Cat and Mouse
by TildaIsWicked
Summary: He thought that something as trivial as humanity wasn't needed for him anymore.She thought that after all she had been through,nothing in her own world would be able to scare her. They're both chased and they're both chasing. Slight Kagome/Light
1. Shadows

Ok,I told myself I'd try to get at least half of chapter three finished before uploading this,but I just couldn't wait any longer!_ At least I've _started_ on the third chapter...  
This is the multi-chapter story of my oneshot Dead eyes. If you read the oneshot and was hoping for the longer version,know that this isn't exactly the same 's still Death Note/InuYasha and it still has Light/Kagome as a L doesn't have a major part in this story,and not that the oneshot said much about any plot, but this story is quite different...To be honest,Dead eyes was just a little idea I had at the beginning of the planning for this story.

Still hope you like it though!It's not very romantic...It might get more romantic further on,but the only real pairing I can see is Light/Kagome and slight hints of Kagome/InuYasha.  
Also, the story takes place,Death Note-wise,just after the Higuchi-arc has -wise,somewhere after Kagome has resurrected Kikyo...If you know what I mean?

Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.I don't own any of the characters.  
Sadly :'(

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**Chapter 1 **Shadows

Kagome's POV

Dark had fallen since long, the sky was black and even the lights from the stars were faint. The shore was nearby and the scent of salt water was carried onto land and into the forest. The trees stood close to each other, creating walls and making it hard to pass through the area quickly. In the darkness, it was almost impossible to see anything at all inside the forest. The moon was the only source of light, but most of the moonlight was blocked out by the tree's majestic crowns. Everything had been perfectly still and silent, until a sudden movement broke the calm.

A blurry shadow swept past the trees, moving faster than the eye could see. Despite the many trees that blocked all paths, the figure managed to avoid every single one. Its speed was not natural, it seemed almost as if it was flying.

A few seconds passed and another shadow appeared. This time, it moved slower but still with an unnatural pace. The figure could easily follow the trails of the first shadow. When he moved, a whistling noise was made, from the wind that he carried with him.

He stopped abruptly. A soft breeze swept past him, and he inhaled all the scents that it brought. He stood quiet for a few moments, when he heard something approaching. The sound of wind echoed between the trees, but not the graceful wind that he or the first shadow had caused, but a heavier one that told that the approaching creatures were not that fast. When they came closer, he heard one of them exchange words with the other, and he gave a frustrated sigh.

When the company was just a few feet away from him, he turned around and looked at them grimly.

"Kagome, I told you to be quiet!" InuYasha growled.

The young woman whom he had addressed frowned. She was sitting behind the demonslayer, Sango, on Kirara – the demon cat who was also Sango's companion. Shortly behind them came Shippo, transformed into a giant eagle, and Miroku sitting on his back. The monk dismounted and looked around, as if he was searching for something.

"InuYasha, where did he go?" he said in a low voice.

"North, but he's moving quickly. We have no time for pauses if we want to catch him." He fell silent and looked at his companions. They all stared back, expectantly. "Maybe it's best if I go alone. It will be faster that way."

The first one to protest was Kagome, who jumped of Kirara's back.

"No way! I don't want you to go off chasing a demon like _that_ by yourself. It's too dangerous."

"She's right", Miroku said. "It's too dangerous. Besides, I am almost certain that it's not a demon, but a death god – a shinigami."

Sango gasped. "A shinigami? But why would they be here, in the land of the living?"

"I'm not sure... However, it's not wise for any of us to try and battle a shinigami on our own."

InuYasha snorted. "I can handle him."

"I'm not letting you go off by yourself!" said Kagome in a very strict tone.

"I don't need your permission, Kagome."

Miroku sighed at their bickering. He exchanged a glance with Sango.

Shinigami were not impossible to kill, you just had to do it right. Though, Miroku had never learned how. If a shinigami entered the world of the living, it must mean he had some sort of business here. So why attack a village? They don't feed on humans. The sort of violence the shinigami had used on the villagers seemed like normal demon violence, and not the sort that Miroku had heard they should use. But despite that, he was absolutely certain that the figure they were chasing was a shinigami. The aura wasn't demonic and foul, it was close to sacred – but still dark somehow. Maybe the power of a priestess would be more vulnerable to a creature like that.

_Someone with sacred powers. Perhaps I could do something, but I have a feeling my training wouldn't be enough. The powers should be more like... " _The monk's eyes drifted towards Kagome, who was still arguing with InuYasha, her hands on her hips. _Someone like Kagome-sama._

From somewhere deep in the forest, far away from where the party had stopped, a loud noise made them all stop with what they were doing. It was the sound of trees falling, and several birds rose from their safe places in the trees, and fled into the night sky with terrified shrieks. When silence had fallen again, Miroku spoke.

"I think it's best if you, Kagome-sama, go with InuYasha to find the shinigami."

Kagome turned to Miroku with a confused look on her face. InuYasha didn't seem pleased by the decision either.

"She would only be in the way. You know I can't fight without hindrance when she's around," he said.

"Hey! You don't think I can take care of myself? Am I that much trouble?" Kagome said angrily.

"Yes, you are!"

Miroku stopped them before they had a chance to start bickering again.

"What I mean is that if the shinigami is vulnerable to any of our attacks, it's most likely of Kagome-sama's sacred powers. I sensed that his aura was... not demonic, but rather like a corrupted priest or priestess."

Sango nodded. "I sensed that too. And I think you're right. Kagome-chan might be able to harm him."  
The young woman scratched her cheek, unsure of what to say. She didn't have that much knowledge in how to handle her abilities as a priestess, even if she knew she posessed them. When she first learned what she could do, Kaede had told her that she would have to train how to use them, but there had never really been time. And whenever the subject came up, Kagome couldn't help but feel uneasy.

But if it meant that she could defeat this creature, this shinigami, and prevent more lives from being taken, then she would try.

"I'll do my best", she said in a low voice. Miroku looked at her, full with expectations. Sometimes she wondered if the monk thought of her as a fulltrained priestess, and not the clueless girl she really was. She looked between him and Sango, who gave her a smile mixed with encouragement but also slight worry.

Shippo had transformed back into his usual self, and jumped up to Kirara's back. He wasn't that good as hiding his emotions. He looked troubled and very anxious.

"I'll cheer for you, Kagome!" he said with a trembling voice.

Kagome smiled, trying her best to hide the uneasiness she felt. But when she turned to look at InuYasha, it was obvious that he wasn't eager to let her come along. He stood with his arms crossed and glared daggers at Miroku. Kagome frowned.

"InuYasha, I'll be fine! Stop sulking!"

The half demon snorted. But Kagome could see that beneath his cocky side, he was uprightly worried. Just like always, when anyone mentioned Kagome fighting. She sighed.

"Come on, let's hurry. We don't want to lose track of him."

InuYasha let Kagome sit on his back. They gave their companions a short look, a nod – then they were off.

The last thing the others could see was that off InuYasha's red haori, melting into the rest of the darkness among the trees. Because of the unnatural speed he had, it didn't take long before they were out of sight.

"I really hope she makes it", Miroku said in a low voice.

His eyes met Sango's. She looked away.

Light's POV

Light Yagami was accustomed to sit in front of the computer for long periods. Sometimes he could feel his neck stiffen but that was nothing he cared for much.

The time was well past midnight, and the young man had forgotten when he sat down in front of the screen. It was when two men behind him, Matsuda and Aizawa, started talking that Light blinked and realized that his eyes were actually quite tired. He returned to what he was doing, but realized it was useless. All letters and words seemed to blend together and it became impossible for him to understand their meaning.

Frustrated, he fell back in his chair and glared at the screen, as if it was mocking him. It appeared that even Light Yagami had limits.

"What's wrong, Yagami-kun?" a dark voice asked.

Light looked to his side to see L, sitting with a bent back on a chair while positioning all his body weight at his feet. The crouching figure held a spoon between his thumb and index finger, a spoon that belonged to a small cup of ice cream standing on the desk in front of him.

Light felt bothered by L's stare and looked away before their eyes met. Ever since Higuchi died, leaving a Death Note behind him that was now locked up in the Kira investigation's headquarters, the detective seemed to be even more alert on Light's every move. It didn't matter that it was said that he was freed of all suspicion, L appeared to be determined that he was in fact Kira. The rest of the team didn't agree at all, but the truth was that L was dead on target.

"Nothing, I'm just... a little tired, maybe."

"Tired? Maybe you should go home and rest," L said with a concern that matched that of a best friend – the role that he was playing.

Light shook his head and returned to the computer. "I'm fine."

He wouldn't leave the investigation in a situation like this. The Death Note that Higuchi left behind was locked somewhere inside the headquarters. If Light left, L could easily take the notebook away and hide it, or even try to kill Light (since it was absolutely certain that he was still a suspect in L's eyes).

He could feel the detective's eyes linger on him. He had that usual deep gaze that told of an uncountable amount of thoughs running through his head. He knew that L was lining up all the reasons to why he didn't want to leave, even though he was free to.

"Yagami-kun, though we still need to carry on the investigation and perhaps work even harder now that we're back to the start again... It's still important for you to do the things a normal student does. You have plenty of time for these things later, when you get a job."

Light resisted the urge to roll his eyes at L. It felt like he was trying to chase him out of the headquarters.

"I promise, I'll be all right. I can easily catch up with school."

As he finished his sentence, a pile of papers was dumped on the desk next to where he was sitting. He looked up to see his father, Soichiro Yagami. Soichiro looked at Light with concern, but not the same concern as L – but an honest concern that was fitting for a father caring for his son.

"Ryuzaki is right, Light. It's been a while since you had time off. Up until recently it was impossible for you to even leave the investigation...", he said while glancing at L.

L took a bite of ice cream, pretending he wasn't listening, with his eyes glued to the computer screen in front of him.

Light knew what Soichiro was thinking of when he looked at the detective. It had been impossible for him to leave the investigation for a long time, since he had been the main suspect of the Kira case for a long while – which resulted in L handcuffing himself and Light together to make sure that he didn't do anything suspicious when he didn't see.

But now that he was cleared off all suspiscion, maybe it was weird that he _didn't _leave.

Soichiro sighed. "What I mean is, maybe you should go back home. Just for a couple of days, to get some rest." Light opened his mouth to protest, but he was interrupted. "If not for yourself, then do it for your mom and for your sister. It's been a while since you saw each other, right?"

Light couldn't argue. And he knew that if he seemed to persistent to stay, even the most passionate worker (maybe even someone like L), would react. At times like this, the most natural thing to do would be to just give in.

He sighed in defeat. He noticed how L resumed his staring, now with a spoon in his mouth.

"Fine, I'll go home. But just for a few days, then I'll be back."

Kagome's POV

The deeper into the forest they ventured, the more anxious Kagome grew. It was almost as if all the shadows were watching her. The shinigami could be hiding anywhere.

Everything was silent. The only sound reaching her ears was the sound of InuYasha's swift feet whenever they hit the ground. Rather than running, InuYasha was flying through the forest.

There were many things about the shinigami that worried Kagome. Not only was it the fact that Miroku had said it would be even harder to kill a death god than a normal demon – and that perhaps the only one who would be able to do it was Kagome herself. The thing that frightened the most was the aura that had surrounded the shinigami. They had never gotten a good look at it in the village before it disappeared into the woods. But with normal demons, Kagome and the others could always sense the demonic aura.

This time, there was no demonic aura – just like Miroku had mentioned. He and Sango had agreed that the aura felt more like a corrupted priest. That wasn't what Kagome had felt. Sure, somewhere deep within the feeling that had spread throughout her body when they got closer to the creature, she had felt something that reminded of what the monk had described. But there was also something else... It had made her think of the worst nightmare she could ever imagine. But the nightmare hadn't scared her. When she felt it, she felt almost happy. Happy of being close to pain. And that was what had frightened her.

She shivered and tried to break free from the memory. She noticed how InuYasha was slowing down. Maybe he had noticed something.

He sniffed, searching for the scent that he had picked up. Kagome held her breath. She slided down from his back and pulled the quiver over her shoulder, ready to use it anytime.

"He's close." InuYasha said so quietly that it could pass for a whisper. Kagome had an unpleasant feeling in her stomache.

The half demon was just about to say something else when his whole body stiffened. He reacted as if he had heard or smellt something that indicated danger. Kagome looked around her, thinking that maybe whatever it was that he had sensed, was coming closer to them. But they were still alone, and the black trees were the only thing her eyes could see.

"Stay here. I'll be right back."

InuYasha took a step ahead as if getting ready to sprint into the forest, when Kagome grabbed the end of his haori-sleeve.

"What, are you just going to leave me here?"

"He's close. I'll finish him off."

"We're doing this together!"  
"I'm not putting you in danger, Kagome. Just stay here!"

"I might be in more danger if I stay here alone, unprotected."

She crossed her arms and turned her back against him. She knew he wasn't going to give in, but that was partly why she was so angry at him. He didn't trust her at all in situations like this. Miroku had said that she should be the only one to harm the shinigami, but InuYasha wouldn't even let her try. Was he being overprotective, or was it something else?  
She heard him sigh.

"Just... Don't go anywhere. I won't be long."

He disappeared. The moment he was gone, Kagome sank down on her knees. "If he was going to leave me in the first place, I might as well have stayed with the others..."

It really was cold in the middle of the night. Kagome did her best to warm herself up, but it was no use. She muttered. When InuYasha came back, she would "sit" him like never before. He would regret doing this.

She shuddered. For a moment it felt like something, something alive, was coming closer. It wasn't a mouse, was it?

Kagome peeked over her shoulder but couldn't see anything but darkness. Everything was still. She breathed out. It must have been a mouse.

But before she could relax, a familliar feeling sneaked in towards her. The nausea she felt was close to the one she felt when they saw the shinigami. Could it be...?

A wind swept past her and she got up on her feet instantly. She spun around and almost let out a scream when she saw the terrifying figure stand just two feet away from her. Kagome backed several steps, but stopped when her back touched the stem of a tree. Her heart raced. Never before had she been this scared when facing a demon.

Then again, this wasn't a demon.

At first, Kagome thought it was a skeleton standing before her. But she realized quickly that she was wrong. Though his shapes reminded a lot of a skeleton, he was far from it. Even in the dark forest, where there was close to no light, she could see the golden color on his body. On his head and on several places along his arms and legs, there were many diamonds and jewels buried deep into the limb. Even his eyes could easily be mistaken for jewels. As if it wasn't enough, he wore many necklaces and bracelets all decorated with more sparkling stones and gemstones. His face was ever grinning, exposing yellow, pointy teeth.

This was what a shinigami looked like?  
"Ah, yes... ", the shinigami said, his dark voice echoing both inside Kagome's mind and among the trees. She couldn't be sure if he had actually uttered the words or if he had merely broken into her head. He leaned forward, his face just a few inches away from her. "Your lifespan is very interesting."

Kagome was paralyzed with fear. She didn't like the way he was eyeing her. It was as if he was contemplating eating her.

The shinigami extended his hand to reach out for her. She was surprised that his hand, in contrast to his body, looked so human. The skin was more gray and looked a bit like leather, but it didn't stand out as much as the rest of him. Nevertheless, Kagome wasn't eager to let him touch her. She pressed her body towards the tree as much as she could, and turned her head to the side, pressing her eyes shut and hoping he wouldn't reach her.

He stopped abruptly when a sudden scream was heard. It was InuYasha.

"Don't you dare touch her!" he yelled as he came flying from nowhere, brandishing his Tessaiga.

The shinigami jumped away instantly. InuYasha landed a few feet in front of Kagome, standing as a protective shield between her and their enemy. He growed menacingly.

"Well, even if you don't beat the human, you are pretty interesting you too, half-demon," the shinigami chuckled.

InuYasha snorted.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but I sure don't like it."  
"You're right, what would you know? You're a much lower being than I am."

"Cut the crap! Who the hell are you?"

The shinigami was silent for a moment, eyeing InuYasha and Kagome with an unreadable expression. His big, jewel-like eyes didn't move. They stood still like solid rock, but Kagome still felt as if he could see everything. Every movement she made, ever single breathtake...

"I don't really feel the need to introduce myself, half-demon," he finally said.

InuYasha pointed his sword at him, obviously provoked by being called "half-demon" over and over again.

"But very well, if you're so eager to know, I'll tell you. My name is Armonia Justin Beyondormason. Too long for you?"

InuYasha snorted. "You're a shinigami - a death god, aren't you?"

"Oh? So you were able to figure it out?" He laughed once again, this time his laugh more high pitched and it echoed louder. Kagome shuddered again.

"If you are a shinigami, then why are you here?", InuYasha asked with a frustrated voice.

While the skeleton-like figure was on his way to answer, his lifeless eyes moved back to Kagome again. The fascination on his face grew, as if there was something with her that amused him.

"You make an interesting point. It's rare that shinigamis enter the realm of the living... But there are some times when we feel drawn here. And some times that is because of a specific human... Like a human with an interesting... _lifespan._"

He emphasized the last word as if there was a hidden meaning behind it. All the while, his gaze at Kagome grew more intense. She couldn't help but look away. The nausea was rising. Neither she nor InuYasha really understood what he had meant. But of course, InuYasha wasn't one to show his confusion.

He kept his aggressive posture, but Kagome could also hint the insecureness.

"What do you mean?" he asked harshly.

Justin gave out another echoing laugh, one that could remind you of a nail scratching against glass.

"Not important. But what I think _you _should know...", he said, nodding towards Kagome, "is that you may very well be one of those humans. And shinigami's like me are very eager to... 'consume' lifespan's just like yours."

Kagome's eyes widened when she sensed the hidden meaning behind his words. InuYasha understood it as well, because he tensed even more at the same moment as Kagome did.

"We will meet again..."

Before they had any chance to react, the shinigami had spread out a pair of golden wings and with one flap, he was on his way through the nightsky, moving like a bat in the darkness.

The two left on the ground stood still for long, looking at his disappearing figure. The silence that fell between them carried uneasiness, confusion and a sort of anxiousness. Neither of them knew what to say to the other.

A chill swept past them and Kagome tried to warm herself. InuYasha looked at her over his shoulder and said in a low voice;  
"I won't let him get near you. I promise you. I won't let anything or anyone hurt you. Ever."

Kagome remembered there was a time when she could believe those words. At the moment, she wished she was back in that time.

Light's POV

The same moment Light exited the building that was the headquarters of the Kira investigation, he let out a loud groan. He clenched his fists and felt the frustration rising inside of him.

Why was L so determined to have him take some days off? Was there something he didn't want him to see? Was he planning something, or was this another test? With L, one could never be sure and there was never time to relax. He had to make sure not to be caught off guard.

In any case, he had told Rem to stay at the headquarters. That was inevitable, since it would be obviously suspiscious if it was visible that the shinigami followed him around. Light was now the owner of Higuchi's notebook, the notebook that was kept behind bars somewhere in the building.

Misa wasn't at hand either. At the moment, she was in another part of the country while recording another movie. As she had been told, she was killing criminals quite regular even when she was away, but of course only during times when it was safe to do so. Even so, though criminals were still being put to justice, Misa was out of his reach. What was there for him to do with neither Misa nor L around?  
He closed his eyes and tried to calm down.

_I need to act as normal as possible in front of L and the rest of the team. I may be an aspiring detective, but it would be too suspiscious if a person my age was this persistent to not have any free time..._

While he was thinking, he slowly began making his way home. He knew his mother and sister would be all too happy to see him. Light would pretend to be happy as well (maybe there was a side of him, buried deep somewhere, that actually held those emotions for real), but on the inside he would just be tense and wishing time could pass faster. Then he would leave as fast as he possibly could and return to the others. He had no time to waste on family quality time.

If it was something Light did not like, it was being controlled by someone else. Ever since L had surprised him at the university ceremony and introduced himself, Light would feel from time to time that he was actually being controlled. In many aspects he was. The trick was to turn it around and prove to the detective that he wasn't the least affected by it. In time, L would be the one being controlled.

_L... As soon as you're dead, my plan will go forward without any obstacles._

Yes, as soon as L was dead and out of the way, there would be no one left to stop Light and his plan to create the ideal world.

Kagome's POV

Two days had passed since the attack of the shinigami called Justin. InuYasha and his group had returned to the village, and were now waiting to depart once again – searching for clues for where Naraku or the Shikon shards could be.

Of course, Sango, Miroku and Shippo had all been troubled when they learned of what Justin had said. They were all worried for Kagome, afraid that she was in immediate danger.

"There are many problems with death gods. We don't know much about them – they could impossible to harm. We don't know how they hunt, their weaknesses, strenghts... Nothing. And least of all, we have no clue whatsoever to when he could show up again. That's why we need to be on guard at all times."

That was what Miroku had said. The others had agreed. Kagome had just been quiet, not knowing what to say.

The party had agreed to stay in the village for a few days before leaving. InuYasha hadn't been very eager to the idea, as usual, but he gave in, aware that the humans needed to rest. It had been a while since that last stopped for a longer time, and they were all carried lesser wounds or signs of weariness. Some of them hadn't had a decent night of sleeps for several days.

Kagome saw the longer stop as an oppurtunity to go back to her own time. It felt as if it had been months since she last saw her family.

"No way in hell!" InuYasha shouted when Kagome told him of her intentions.

She sighed. She knew he would react this way. He never liked her going home – and now that her life might be in danger, he was more determined than ever.

She already had her yellow backpack over her shoulder, and was ready to go at anytime. Now all she had to do was persuade this stubborn halfdemon.

"InuYasha, it's not like I will be in danger in my own time. There are hardly any shinigamis there... Demons and... things like them don't roam about everywhere like they do here." InuYasha snorted. "And besides, it's been months since I went back last! I need to see my family and go to school every now and then. It's important to me, and I've told you that many times already!"

"Is it more important than staying alive?"

"InuYasha!" Kagome felt her frustration rising.

At this moment, Miroku had passed them just in time. He couldn't help but overhear their conversation – it was quite hard for anyone in the area not to, and he decided to assist Kagome in the persuading.

While he himself was rather worried about the young priestess, he doubted that a death god would be able to harm her when she was in her own time. He knew nothing of how they moved or lived there – or if they even existed, but he guessed it would be safe.

"Now now InuYasha, just a few days won't hurt. It's not like we're going anywhere anyways. Besides, you know that Kagome-sama is a very responsible person and she's perfectly able to take care of herself. "

InuYasha glared daggers at the monk. He looked between him and Kagome, finally snorting loudly and turning his back towards her, proving that she had won the argument.

"Only two days. If you stay longer I'll go and fetch you."

Kagome breathed out in relief and smiled gratefully at Miroku. He returned the smile and motioned for her to hurry towards the well before InuYasha changed his mind.

At the same moment Kagome jumped through the Bone Eater's well, and in doing so began her journey back through the time, Justin Armonia Beyondormason laughed maniacally back in the death god's realm.

It was rare that he looked through the big orb that displayed the human's world. But now that he had a target – the Japanese girl by the name of Kagome Higurashi, he had use of it.

The reason of his laughter was the sudden change of the orb's picture. First, he had followed the girl jumping through an old dried out well. The action seemed odd to him, but when the picture suddenly started blurring like floating paint, he knew that something was strange. This had never happened before – and he would know so, being one of the oldest shinigamis.

The blurring faded out and instead of showing the bottom of the well like he expected, he now realized that what he saw wasn't the feudal Japan.

The girl had travelled through time right before his eyes.

Once again, the laughter bubbled up through his dry throat and created an echoing sound in the desert realm.

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Soooo what did you think?

I don't know when the next chapter will be uploaded,but the second chapter is finished.I just want to feel like I'm a bit ahead in the it won't be too will probably go faster if you review, cause compliments is what keeps me fired up!:D


	2. Wondering

Sooo,here's chapter 2!:) I'm almost done with chapter 3,hopefully it won't be too long until I update again but please be patient.  
Also,read and review - 'cause it makes my day :D

(This chapter was supposed to be uploaded a few days ago,but I had some trouble with my account and couldn't submit anything :( Well, here it is!Hopefully uou won't have to wait that long for the next chapter!)

Disclaimer: Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi belongs to Rumiko Takahashi - not me.

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**Chapter 2 **Wondering

Kagome's POV

Though she had spent the whole day in school trying to keep up with the teacher's lecture of several month's worth of missed knowledge, Kagome felt more relaxed than she had in a long while when she began her way home in the afternoon.

The color of the sky was a somewhat mixture of bright gray and yellow – a typical winter color. It had been rather chilly the past few days. Her friends had been very excited to see her back at school, and wanted to spend time with her afterwards so that they could know all the latest details of her boyfriend. But even if Kagome felt tempted to go with her friends and do the things a normal teenager does, she just couldn't say yes. Not only was it the fact that she couldn't stay for long, but she had to study to keep up with all the things that she had missed (and it seemed to be more than ever).

She sighed and looked up at the sky. It sure was easier to live in her own world, even if it sometimes felt like the opposite. This world had no demons wandering around the streets, there were bathtubs and food was always easy to get.

Now that school was over for the day, Kagome was on her way back home to try and study for the rest of the afternoon. She knew that it probably wouldn't take long until she lost her concentration, but she wanted to at least try.

While she was walking, caught up in her own worries, she suddenly heard a pained shout from somewhere. She looked around her, to see if anyone else had noticed. But the street was rather empty, and the few people nearby were far away from her and all seemed unaware of anything strange going on.

Then she heard it again, and now she knew from where it came. She looked to her right, towards a small alley between two buildings. It was hard to notice it at first, because there were shadows cast directly towards it, but when she looked she could clearly see a group of teenage boys gathering up on a single person. It seemed to be another boy in their own age, just shorter and less muscular built. He was lying on the ground, receving hard kicks from the gang, while they laughed at his pained expression. He had no chance.

Kagome was paralyzed at the sight. If they were demons, she wouldn't react like this, but humans... How could they? Her heart raced with fury. She had to help the boy. She was only a lonely girl herself, and would have no chance in a physical fight against the gang, but she was certainly not just going to stand there on spot and watch them do that to a defenseless person. That was the result of the courage she had gained during her journey with InuYasha.

There were five boys, all tall and rather big, surrounding the weaker one. They all looked very intimidating.

Kagome took a deep breath and walked into the alley. The gang didn't notice her until she shouted at them.

"Hey!"

They stopped the kicks and beatings and looked behind themselves in frustration. The victim, lying bleeding on the ground, attempted to look at her, but seemed too weak to hold his head up properly.

Kagome noticed with fear that one of the boys, the biggest one, held an iron pipe in his hand. It had some blood stains on it.

Another one, one with a pierced nose and bleached hair, smirked when his eyes fell on Kagome. The sight of her, a teenage girl wearing a school uniform, probably wasn't very frightening to someone like himself.

"What now, have you come to play with us?" he grinned, as did everyone else in his group. Everyone except the one holding the iron pipe.

"Stop what you're doing... Now!" Those were the only words Kagome could think of. Perhaps there were other things she could have chosen to sound more menacing, but she didn't feel very strong on her own at this moment. Would it be easier if she pictured them all as demons? Somehow, she wondered if they would be less frightening to her if they were demons.

"Oh? And why should we?", a boy with a scar on his cheek asked. "Are we taking orders from you?" When he grinned, she noticed that he was missing several teeth.

"I doubt that the person you're abusing has done anything to you that makes him deserve getting ganged up on like this!"

The one holding the iron pipe took a step closer towards her, giving her a cold stare that sincerely scared her.

"Mind your own business," he said to her in a low voice.

Kagome had to muster up power so that she wouldn't stutter when she spoke.

"No." At least she _sounded_ confident.

"I'm giving you a warning. You don't have anything to do with this. Go now and we won't hurt you."  
At the time, she really was tempted to go back. But both the fact that she could still see the helpless boy lying on the ground, almost looking like he was pleading for her to stay, and that she knew she had been through much more frightening situations than this, made it impossible for her to turn back now.

She summoned her courage and looked him straightly in the eyes, without blinking.

"No", she said again. This time her voice sounded darker, and somehow, it was almost challenging. The rest of the group seemed surprise, exchanging glances with each other. The pipe-guy looked annoyed.

He lifted his weapon. Kagome prepared to dodge, but another part of her could already feel the pain surging through her body.

But the pain never came. Instead there was another shout.

"I think it's enough right there."

Silence fell upon the alley. The gang seemed just as surprised as Kagome was. When she opened her eyes she saw the pipe-guy holding the pipe in the air, but staring blankly ahead instead of at her. So were the other guys. Kagome dared glance behind her.

Light's POV

Light glared at the group of teenage boys who stood at the end of the valley. They seemed to be around his own age, perhaps younger, and all of them had typical looks fitting for delinquents. Bleached hair, piercings, scars – and not to mention the bloodstains on their shoes. Without a doubt, the blood belonged to the now unconcious boy lying on the ground.

Normally, Light wouldn't even pretend to care if he saw something like this. It would be too troublesome. But on the inside he would be reminded once again of what he was doing for the sake of the new world. In his world, these scenes wouldn't exist.

His eyes had just briefly fallen on the alley when he passed the street. When he looked away, another figure got caught in the corner of his eye. He had thought it was just another person in the gang, but it didn't take long for him to realize that it was a girl. And she wasn't part of the gang, she was trying to stop the abuse.

The sight made him stop. He saw how one of the gang members, the biggest one, lifted an iron pipe and swinged it towards the girl. Without thinking, Light took action.

He was just in time to prevent the girl from being hit.

"I think it's enough righ there", he said – loud enough for them to halt.

The attacker looked at him with fury in his eyes. He knew that he wouldn't hesitate to switch his target. He seemed to be one of those easily provoked people – a troublesome one. But no one too dangerous. Light wasn't afraid of him.

"And who the hell are you?" shouted one of the teens standing in the back alley. Light's eyes fell once again on the unconcious boy. He would need medical treatment, and that quickly.

"That's not important", Light said neutrally. "But one might wonder if you aren't afraid that Kira will know who _you are?"_

"Kira?"

The boys exchanged looks then looked back at Light. He smirked. The one holding the pipe took a step closer, and looked as if he was about to say something, but they were interrupted yet again. This time by the sound of sirens.

"The cops!" one of them shouted.

Four of them, the ones who surrounded the unconcious boy, darted away without a second thought. The attacker, with his eyes still locked with Light's, stayed. Light didn't look away, but almost welcomed the staring contest. Though he kept a hard and cold face, but on the inside he felt like laughing at the attacker's stupidity.

The sirens sounded louder and louder, signaling that they were coming closer. The boy snorted and gave Light one last murdering gaze before leaving the alley behind. Light looked after him.

Then he heard the girl breathing out in relief. She put a hand to her chest as if to calm her heart and staggered to lean on the closes house wall. It didn't take long until her eyes widened and she hurried over to the boy to check if he was allright.

Light approached them and squatted down beside the girl. He gave the injuries a quick lookover. He had taken some serious beatings, and it was obvious he needed a doctor. The boy had probably also hurt his organs and maybe got a concussion – Light drew the conclusion after seeing the bruises on his head. He held back a sigh.

_What a pain_, he thought.

He took out his cellphone from the pocket of his jeans and quickly dialed the emergency number. After making sure that an ambulance was on its way, he turned to look at the girl again.

Why would she put herself in danger for the sake of this boy? Light doubted that they knew each other, partly because their uniforms were different.

While he observed the girl and pondered whether she was an unsually goodhearted person or just plain stupid, he suddenly found that she was looking back at him. But not with the suspicious look that Light probably was giving her, but with eyes of curiosity. Or maybe gratitude. He was surprised when she smiled at him. How could a normal girl just smile in a situation like this?  
"Thank you for your help. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't come..."

_You would probably have been killed with that pipe_, Light thought.

"That was nothing. I just can't stand people like them," he said. He met her eyes directly. "You seem rather brave yourself."

She looked startled. "M-me?" Her eyes drifted away, then she tensed as if she remembered something. There was a brief moment of silence, before she smiled again. But this smile was far from as radiant as the previous one. "I'm not brave. It's just... I don't care about my fear."

"Oh?"

Light tried to seem interested but he really wasn't. Though there was something about this girl that bothered him. What could it be?

It didn't take long for the ambulance to arrive. While the boy was taken into the ambulance, Light and the girl were asked what had happened, in what condition the boy had been found and then all the information they had about the gang.

Light learned that the girl's name was Kagome Higurashi. It was a name that imediatelly carved itself into his mind.

Kagome's POV

The ambulance workers ensured Kagome that there was no need for her to accompany the boy to the hospital.

She watched the ambulance drive off at high speed and then sighed. She guessed that she had done all she could. The person who had come to her aid, who had introduced himself as Light Yagami, came to stand beside her. They were silent for a moment.

It was a heavy silence, and Kagome didn't like it. She felt as if he was watching her, even though she knew he wasn't. He was looking at the road where the ambulance had been a short while ago, just like her. But still...

"Let me ask you this", he said and broke the silence. Kagome dared togive him a quick glance, as a sign that she was listening."Why did you interfere?"

"What?"

"I mean... most people would just walk away. Or maybe call for the cops. They certainly wouldn't take action themselves, much less a girl like you."

"Well, I... "

Kagome really didn't know what to answer. He had asked her earlier if she thought of herself as brave – but her reply was that she just didn't care about fear. It was partly true. It was mostly because she had been through worse, and much more dangerous, situations than that. But what was the answer to this question? Was it an obvious answer, or was it something deeper?

"I don't really know. I guess I simply put the safety of other's before my own."

"Even if you don't know them?"

"Well... yes."

The look on his face was unreadable. His lips were a thin, stiff line and his eyes were looking straightly ahead. Kagome could tell that he was deep in thought.

She looked up at the sky and was surprised to see that the colours were beginning to blend from pale blue to a faint shade of gold. Was it already this late?  
"I should be on my way home," she said quietly. She wondered if there was anything more to say. Light nodded.

Only after a few steps, Kagome heard someone catching up with her. Soon, Light was walking by her side. She gave him a questioning look. When he noticed, he smiled politely.

"I live in the same direction."

The walk wasn't very long – the Higurashi temple was almost just around the corner. The two didn't talk much. But Kagome found, the further they came and the more accustomed she became to Light – she wasn't really bothered by the fact that they didn't talk.

She stopped in front of the entrance of the temple and said that this was where she lived. Light seemed surprised.

"A temple? You live here?"

"Yes, my family owns it."

"Really?" He looked up the stairs and tried to get a glimpse of the temple. He smiled. "My house isn't that far from here. Maybe we'll run into each other."

He waved at her and then walked to the end of the sidewalk. She watched his figure disappear around the corner before she walked up the stairs.

Light's POV

Light couldn't deny it. He was confused by the girl's actions. It wouldn't make sense to him why she would sacrifice herself and put herself in danger to save the life of a person she didn't even know. Especially when her own chances were so utterly insignificant.

And he was confused to why he himself felt so bothered by her.

_It's true that there are people more willing to sacrifice themselves for justice and for peace. Maybe she's one of them. A person like her belongs in the new world that I am creating._

Kagome's POV

"I'm home!" Kagome shouted the moment she entered the hallway.

Her mom peeked out of the kitchen and smiled brightly. "Kagome, welcome home! How was your day?"

"The usual." She sighed when she was reminded of all that homework that was just waiting for her... She would need months to catch up. Sometimes she wondered if it even was worth the effort...

"Oh, by the way – "

Kagome stopped when she heard her mother's voice. "What is it?"

"InuYasha came about an hour ago."

The school girl's mouth fell open. She felt the frustration build up inside of her, but part of her was just too tired to be mad at him.

"Great..." she moaned and walked to her room.

What was it with InuYasha and his overprotectiveness? Lately, it was much harder to convince him to let her go back home – and whenever he did, he'd come to visit her in the blink of an eye. It made it hard for her to concentrate and fully relax when she was back in her own time.

_When all of this is over, I doubt that I'll be able to go back again. When that happens, will I be able to get used to the normal life I once had? If that means... that I can never see InuYasha again._

Those were thoughts that almost daily haunted Kagome. But as always, she shrugged them off, thinking that there would be another time for that. Right now, she had to concentrate on her studies.

_It's not like I belong there. I never will._

She opened the door to her room and her eyes immediatelly fell on the figure sitting on the floor, in front of her bed as usual. He was bothering her cat Buyo like he always did, pulling the fat animal by his paws. Buyo didn't seem to mind, though. InuYasha looked up at her.

"Kagome. You're late."

She rolled her eyes and closed the door behind her. "And _you're _early! I've only been home for a day and you're already here to drag me back? You said _at least _two days!"  
She sank down on the floor. InuYasha snorted and looked away.

"I'm not here to drag you back. Yet. Even if _I do _think you spend too much time here."

Kagome frowned. "Then what makes you come here?"

"Why are you so angry? Am I bothering you?" Before Kagome had the chance to say anything, InuYasha spoke again. "I don't need a reason to come here."

He was silent for a moment, and did his best to hide his eyes. He looked a little bit embarrassed. "I need to make sure that nothing happenes to you, especially now when that shinigami is after you."

Kagome was confused. "What are you talking about? Justin can't come here!" She met InuYasha's eyes – that were now serious. She knew immediatelly that she had been wrong. "Or... can he?"

"We talked to Myoga. Apparently, there's no real boundary of time in their realm. They're not connected to this world. Which means..."

"... That they can come here whenever they want to." Kagome said, both as a statement but also as a question. Her heart was beginning to race.

InuYasha nodded. "Exactly."

* * *

**I love cliffhangers :3**


	3. Cold

Yaaay,new chapter!

The title of this chapter comes partly from the story (you can read it and decide whether you think it fits),but I also thought of the song 'Set the fire to the third bar' by Snow Patrol.I love that song,and it's on my playlist for this fanfiction :3  
This chapter is longer than the first two, which were about six pages or so - this one is a little more than 8 pages!:D Some people prefer short chapters because it's easier to read,and I'm actually one of those people,but when it comes to writing I want them to be a little longer xD

Read & enjoy - tell me what you think!:)

Disclaimer: InuYasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi

* * *

**Chapter 3 **Cold

Ryuk's POV

The shinigami called Ryuk sighed loudly and looked up at the sky. He was _bored. _Ever since the ownership of his Death Note had switched from Light to his girlfriend Misa, things had become duller. Especially because Ryuk had to follow Misa around – and in this particular moment, they were located at the recording place of the young actress' latest film. She had been squealing and jumping about it from the day that she was hired. At first, Ryuk found it interesting how the humans were running around and dressing up and pretending to be something they weren't – but after a while, watching the set got very boring.

Misa was no fun. She didn't even give him any apples! It would be too risky to do so on the set, where she was almost always surrounded by people. She didn't have many moments for herself, and therefore it was quite hard for her to even speak to Ryuk (though she could at some occasions, if no one was watching and if she kept her voice down).

On another note, the reason the young actress' life seemed uninteresting at this point was because she wasn't using the notebook. Light hat ordered her to begin killing criminals soon, but not for a while. Since Higuchi had been disposed of just recently, Light thought it would be safe if they waited maybe a week or so before they resumed their plans. Even if this meant waiting for something good – Misa's life could be rather eventless from a death god's point of view.

Following Misa got rather exhausting, so Ryuk had found a nice spot on the branch of a tree where he could rest – and at the same time he was able to observe the acting set. He wondered when things would get interesting again. Things were only worth watching whenever Light had some master scheme up his sleeve – but right now he was plotting for something bigger and that was something that would take a lot of time. Even if the shinigami was very eagerly awaiting the outcome of the plan, he still didn't have the patience to wait.

Maybe he had been around humans for too long.

He supported his chin in his palm, his golden eyes moving slowly as he watched the little people running around on the ground. Misa was sitting on a bench, not far from the tree where Ryuk was located, and read through her script together with a co-actress.

Focusing on the two young women, he didn't notice when another figure gracefully landed on the branch where he was positioned. A few seconds passed before he grew tired of the shingami's lack of reaction and he spoke.

"Hey, Ryuk!"

Justin's dark voice startled Ryuk, making him dart up from the branch. The diamond-clad death god noticed instantly how the features of human's and their expressions had influenced him. Ryuk's golden eyes were just as animated as any human's.

"A- another shinigami!" Ryuk burst out. He glanced towards the ground, making sure that Misa wouldn't see him talking to an invisible figure. "Who are you again?" he asked, rather dumbly.

"Not that I have high expectations in you, Ryuk, but I at least hoped you would be able to remember the names of your superiors." Ryuk leaned his head to the side, trying hard to recall the name of the diamond-skeleton. "It's Justin, idiot."

"Oh, right. I remember... I think."

"... Well, I thought it would be interesting to see how someone like you comes along in the world of the living. I can see now that you have gotten quite affected by their behaviour."

"... You think?"

Justin shot a quick look towards Misa, then back at Ryuk – as if that explained everything. Ryuk didn't copy. Justin just shook his head.

"Though, I'm here for another reason than checking up on you."

"Yeah, I figured that out."

The two death gods stared at each other. Justin was, as always, frustrated by the fact that Ryuk wasn't intimidated by him – a much higher ranked being. In their realm, most other shinigami avoided him, and if they talked to him they were sure to watch their tongues.

"I'm here observing a specific human. A girl."  
This got Ryuk's attention. He didn't drop the constant grinning he always had, exposing an amount of pointy teeth, but he looked away from Justin to glance at the young girl below the tree. She was just about finished rehearsing with her friend, and now they were only chatting about something unrelated to work.

"Not her. Her lifespan has already been split in half twice - killing her would be utterly useless", Justin said – annoyed by the fact that he was stating the obvious.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. So... who is it then?"  
Justin was silent, looking almost as if he was contemplating a decision.  
"It's no one you would know of. No one that stands close to this human you have been following... Who, by the way, has gotten quite successful with the Death Note, I've noticed."

"Light? Yeah, he has... Though I'm not attached to him anymore."  
"I can see that, idiot. If you were, then why would you be attached to this girl?" Justin shook his head again, at Ryuk's foolishness. He never registered the obvious. "Well, I must be off. I fear talking to you is just a waste of my time."

He spread his wings, that weren't nearly as tattered as Ryuk's were. The wings beat once, creating a forceful wind that blew past Ryuk. He was gone almost instantly. At the same time, the clouds were hiding the sun and the sky became gray. Below the tree, Misa looked up with a worried expression – fearing it might rain.

Ryuk didn't think that whatever Justin was up to would be in the way of Light's plans. He had said that the human he was after wasn't related to him in any way, but Ryuk knew that Light could be very picky about these things. If Justin did something that would affect Light, and if he later found out that Ryuk had known about it from the very start... things would get ugly. Interesting, but ugly.

"Maybe I'd better tell Light."

Kagome's POV

"SIT!"

For the fifth time since the conversation (or fight) started, InuYasha's face was once again buried in the tatami mats in Kagome's bedroom. He growled and glared angrily at her once he was able to lift his head again. Kagome ignored him. She was trying to do some last minute studying before going to school.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" InuYasha yelled, trying to get back up on his feet.

Kagome rolled her eyes.

"The real question is why it's so hard for you to understand! I told you a million times; I need to stay and make up on everything I've missed in school!"

"Yeah, 'cause that's all you ever talk about. I can't see why it's so important."

"No, apparently you don't. You don't need to either, just leave me alone. Go back and I'll catch up with you in a few days."

She returned to her desk, trying to remember what math problem she had left off on. The numbers and words all seemed like a blur to her. InuYasha was doing no good for her concentration, just like always. It didn't matter if he was silent or talking.

"You appear to be strangely calm about a deadly death god chasing you," the half demon muttered.

Kagome sighed. So this was what it was about.

"Look, I'm not that worried about Justin finding me. Even if he has access to this world, modern Tokyo _is still _different than Edo. I don't think he'll attack me in broad daylight, surrounded by people."

"How can you be so sure?" InuYasha argued. "What if he has abilities here that he doesn't have on the other side of the well?"

Kagome wasn't sure, but she still wasn't very worried. If shinigami could hunt so openly, then why had she never noticed anything? InuYasha was just overreacting as usual. Additionally, at the moment she felt like she wouldn't let anything – not even a shinigami, disturb her studies, crazy as it might sound.

"Just let me stay for two more days," she said. She turned to look at the half demon who was sitting on her floor, glaring at her. "I promise I'll be back as soon as possible."

Judging by the look in InuYasha's eyes, he didn't believe her.

But even if that was the case, it seemed as if he was tired of arguing with her. He snorted and opened the window next to Kagome's desk. He gave her one last look before jumping out from the window, landing softly on the ground and then made his way towards the little shed where the well was located.

Kagome looked after him as long as she could before his figure vanished. When he was gone, she sighed once again, stretched and tried to go back to her studies. But as expected, all concentration was gone without a trace.

Light's POV

Light hadn't slept well for a long time, and being home in his own bed didn't make any difference. He spent most of the night staring at the ceiling, thinking of possible reasons to why L was so persistent in making him go home.

He didn't like his current situation at all. He needed to see what L was up to – being outside the investigation made him feel like he was blind. That detective could be doing anything...

The feeling of not knowing was just as bothersome as the silence that crowded the house. His sister had left early for school, and his mom had gone out to make a few errands, leaving Light all alone.

The year before, when Light just had picked up the Death Note and begun his way to becoming a God, he had seen the time when he was alone as the most valuable time he had. Even now he appreciated it more than being surrounded by people - but he just couldn't relax.

He realized that he must have spent too much time in the Kira investigation that he had forgotten how to act in his normal life. He tried sitting down and reading the newspaper, but he gave up on it after reading just two articles. All his Kira-senses were tingling, judging if the criminals mentioned were someone he should pay special attention to.

He sighed, folded the newspaper and put it back on the table. He stood up from his chair and made his way towards the window on the other side of the kitchen. Folding his arms, he watched the empty street outside. The clock hanging on the wall of the kitchen was ticking by, all too loudly. Light couldn't stand the sound of it. Every second of quiet reminded him that somewhere, more important things were progressing – and he wasn't a part of it. Soon, he let out a frustrated sigh and decided to take a walk. Whatever it took to get away from the silence.

He wasn't very surprised when his exposed face was instantly met by cold air. The temperature had dropped significantly during the night. He wasn't wearing a scarf, so instead he flipped up the collar of his jacket to keep his warmth. Apart from the cold, the weather was rather pleasant – for someone who cared. The winter sun was shining brightly and cast a golden light upon the naked trees. There were little piles of leaves that someone had brushed up against the sidewalk that were now beginning to scatter with the soft winds. The noises of the city traffic was heard from a distance.

Light gave his surrounding a quick look (a habit he had picked up not too long ago), before turning to the right. He wasn't sure where he was headed, anywhere was fine. He just needed to get away from the uneventful life.

He didn't pay much attention to his surroundings. While walking, he tried to concentrate on planning his next move. He already knew that the only real move he could risk at the moment was letting Misa resume the killings as soon as possible – but he still felt that it was safe to wait. Nonetheless, no matter how long he waited, L would still suspect Misa when criminals were beginning to drop dead again. In order to protect Misa and make sure that she's not captured and executed, Rem would obviously kill L. That way, Rem would die through giving her own life to save Misa's. Both Rem and L would be gone – two birds with one stone. Things would wrap up perfectly.

Lost in his thoughts, it took a while before Light took notice of the familiar presence sneaking up on him. He quickly turned around and his eyes were met by the sight of Ryuk's wide grin.

The sight reminded him of the first time when the shinigami tracked him down. That was the first time he ever saw a creature bearing any similarity to the skeleton-like shape that most death gods had – and he had, of course, been terrified. Now, he barely even reacted when his eyes fell upon Ryuk. The only thing he felt was a sting of uneasiness. Why in the world was he _here_, and not with Misa?  
"Ryuk", he said harshly. He remembered his location and made sure that no one nearby could hear him. The street was almost completely empty, but he still kept his voice down. "What are you doing here?"

The shinigami laughed. "Hey, is that the first thing you tell me after such a long time?"

Light was not amused. "Stop fooling around. You're supposed to be with Misa, not here." A sudden thought struck him. "Misa... She's not here is she?" He looked around again, but the blonde girl was nowhere to be seen.

Again, Ryuk laughed because he knew how much it would have bothered Light if Misa was there. But he shook his head. "Nah, she's back at the filming set like she is supposed to... But it's just _so boring _there... "

"Ryuk!"

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you why I'm here!"

The look in Light's eyes wasn't to be messed with, so Ryuk quickly explained what happened the previous day. While he was talking, Light's expression changed from frustrated, to surprised and then neutral. His eyes didn't show any sign of emotion but Ryuk could tell he was thinking everything through. Would the shinigami be of any trouble to him? Probably not, as long as he stayed out of the way. As long as he didn't use his notebook to kill anyone that might fall into the police task's attention.

"Ryuk," he finally said.

"Um, yeah?"

"This... 'Justin'... I don't think he'll pose any threat, as long as he doesn't bring attention to himself. Though, if you catch him doing anything... 'suspiscious', tell me instantly."

"Um, sure. Though I doubt I'll be seeing much of him."

"That's a good thing."

Feeling the conversation was ended, Ryuk spread his wings and prepared to fly. While he rose higher and higher, Light watched him with the same dark eyes he had when he was serious about something.

"Make sure Misa doesn't do anything stupid."

"That would be a whole lot of work."

The bat-like figure disappeared into the sky of gray clouds, leaving the human alone on the ground. Though, anyone who had witnessed the seen would only have seen a lone figure to start with.

Light inhaled the fresh air, feeling how he had tensed during his conversation with Ryuk. Great, just another headache to disturb him.

_I'm sick of this. Tomorrow, I'm returning to the headquarters._

Kagome's POV

It was evening and Kagome had just finished a long, relaxing bath. Her hair was damp, and she was dressed in her favorite pajamas. Satisfied with her effort in school and homework, she was finally able to really loosen up. She breathed out and brought a hair drier with her to the TV-room. Her mom had brought out the kotatsu earlier, where her grandfather was now located, reading an old, seemingly ancient, book. She heard the sound of her mother doing the dishes in the kitchen – running water and plates clanking in the sink.

Kagome sat down by the kotatsu and made herself comfortable while she turned the TV to watch the news. Her grandfather gave her a grim look for disturbing his peaceful reading, but didn't say anything. Kagome put the cable of the hair drier into the wall socket and looked at the news anchor speak as she let the hot air blow against her.

"What's the point of watching television and drying your hair at the same time?", her grandfather muttered.

"It's called multi-tasking, grandpa," Kagome said without turning her eyes away from the apparatus.

"It's not like you're able to hear anything they say."

"Well, maybe I don't need to hear what they're saying."

The old man shook his head and returned to his book. Kagome smiled contently and looked back at the news anchor man, who was neutrally talking about something involving politics. Inevitably, Kagome thought how little these news actually mattered to her, as she was constantly travelling to a time where politics were not that much of a concern.

She turned the drier off to pull her fingers through her hair. The short silence made the voices from the TV audible and Kagome could hear the indifferent voice go on to the next piece of news. She only listened half-heartedly, but stiffened abruptly when she saw the headlines on the TV screen.

"_Kira murders at a halt – the Japanese task keeps silent."_

On the monitor appeared pictures taken from a press conference held by the Japanese police. A man between his fourties or fifties, wearing glasses and a worn suit, sat down in front of the sea of journalists, reading out loud from a report. The voice of the reporter silenced him, making it impossible to make out what he was saying. Kagome thought that the man looked kind, but the many signs of exhaustion and overwork made her concerned. She felt bad for him.

She heard the voice of the reporter commenting the press conference.

"_Despite confirming the arrest of a man involved in the Kira case, the police is unwilling to reveal any details on the matter. The captain of the Kira investigation, Yagami Soichiro, explains that the murders will have stopped in the arresting of this man – but the investigation is still far from finished."_

The screen switched to a close-up of the captain, Soichiro Yagami.

"_With this arrest the murders will have stopped – at the moment. There's not much we can say as it is now, but we know that there is at least one more person with the... abilities that Kira would possess.. Until we have made sure that all people involved have been taken into custody, we can not be sure that these homicides are over."_

Kagome froze, unable to tear her eyes away from the police-man. The Kira case? How long had this been going on? How could she possibly have missed this?

'_All this... while I was in another time.'_

When she thought about it, she must have known at least something before. Yes, she knew. She had seen the news and all the commotion concerning the criminals dropping dead, one by one, all across the Earth. All without being related to each other – and they all died of heartattacks. She'd heard the name 'Kira' before, but she had assumed that it was the name of some virus that everyone blamed the deaths on... Or something in that direction.

But apparently, 'Kira' was supposed to be a person.

_'No,that can't be right. Kira's probably not even human.'_

The coverage on the TV had ended and the screen moved to a debate in the studio; discussing how trustworthy the Japanese task force really was in a case like this. Their words escaped Kagome. Her mind was racing.

Would she be able to do something? Was she even able to? Maybe if she talked to InuYasha and the others – maybe they would know something.

"Kagome!"

Kagome flinched at the sudden shout. She blinked and saw her grandfather leaning over the table with a serious look on his face.

"Gee, what is it, grandpa?", she muttered. She put her hands above her ears and pretended that he had hurt them when he yelled.

"I was calling your name several times but you didn't answer", he said grumpily. "You looked rather pale when they mentioned... the Kira cases. Are you all right?"  
Kagome's eyes flickered back to the screen.

"Yeah, I'm just a little tired."

There was something else about Kira that bothered her. The feeling she had when she thought about him, her or... _it. _When the man called Soichiro Yagami spoke about the persons involved in the Kira case, he spoke about their 'abilities'. Of course, this could mean anything seeing as almost everything was kept secret – but that was just it. It could mean _anything._ What if it actually involved... a... demon?

A sudden thought struck her.

_The ability to kill any person, no matter who, when or where. It's almost like a death god._

She shuddered, trying to shake the feeling off. It was probably just because she had been thinking so much about shinigamis lately. It was all InuYasha's fault, coming to disturb her like that.

When her hair was dry, she left the TV-room and made herself ready for bed. Like she always did before going to sleep, she put the little glass bottle with shikon shards on her nightstand. She looked at the jewel shards glimmering in the moonlight. There was one time when she thought they looked beautiful. Now, all she could see was blood.

She yawned and rolled over to her back, watching the ceiling. Many things were going through her head – unfortunately not her studies.

The moment before she drifted to sleep, she remembered that the boy she met the other day, Light, shared last name with the police chief Soichiro Yagami.

Sunday morning, Kagome woke up to see that the sun had not risen completely yet. It wasn't dark outside, but it looked like it was just after sunrise. Another sign that winter was coming. She stretched in her bed, but tensed immediately when she remembered that InuYasha would want her to return this day. She groaned and pulled the covers up over her face again, hoping that she would fall asleep and forget everything that had anything to do with InuYasha.

She rolled over and looked at the little alarm clock that was standing on her nightstand. It was just after nine in the morning. Kagome wasn't the person who slept for long, not even when she had the day off, so she decided to get out of bed.

Her naked feet fell to the tatami mats and slowly approached the window. She pulled the curtains apart so that more light would flood the room. Though it was chilly outside, the light was warm on Kagome's face and she couldn't help but smile.

Light's POV

L would probably have wanted Light to inform him, or at least _someone, _before he returned to the headquarters. However, Light had a feeling that if he did, the detective would find a way to convince him to stay home another day. And that was the least thing Light wanted. No, he was going back, and he was doing it now.

_It's just because this is a mission where I can't afford to rest, or let my guard down even for a moment. _

The thought had occurred to him, that maybe L was doing this just as some sort of psychological experiment. He wanted to see how long it would take before Light returned, or maybe test his commitment to the case. That would probably make sense, but Light was ignoring it. He didn't think L would be able to prove anything judging by Light's personality – that he was eager to work with the police was something everybody already knew.

The sun had risen late that day. It was a Sunday, so most people didn't work, but those who did had woken up and gotten ready before the light could reach their houses. Light was one of them. His mother and sister were still asleep by the time he was getting himself ready. While putting on his jacket, his mother was seen at the top of the stairs with a slumbrous look on her face.

"Light? Are you already going back?"

He turned around to face his mother, not expecting her to be there. She was looking a bit puzzled.

"Yeah, it was only a short break", he said, not meeting her eyes.

"But..." Sachiko tried to say something but couldn't think of a reason good enough to make him want to stay. Light paused. When he knew that she wasn't going to speak, he went for the door. "Will you be back for Christmas?"

The words lingered, waiting for a reply. Light didn't say anything. At last, the silence was blocked out by the sound of the door closing behind him.

The streets were, surprisingly enough, almost completely empty, though Light wouldn't have paid attention to it even if they were so crowded that it was hard for him to get through. His eyes were set only on the road in front of him.

Maybe if he had been paying more attention to the world around him, he would have noticed the girl sneaking up behind him.

"Yagami-kun!"

He continued walking, letting the shout pass him. When he heard it again, his mind froze in panic, thinking that it was Misa approaching him. He didn't stop, but slowed down while his thoughts were catching up with him. The voice calling was a bit darker than Misa's. And Misa had _never_ called him 'Yagami-kun'...

He stopped abruptly when someone bumped into his back. He peeked over his shoulder and saw the top of a blackhaired head – it was clearly not Misa. The short girl looked up, and Light looked right into Kagome Higurashi's chocolate brown eyes.

"S-sorry, didn't mean to bump into you like that", she stuttered and instantly distanced herself from him.

He watched her. "Nice to see you again."

Maybe the polite side of Light Yagami would have stopped and talked with her, especially since she had puzzled him so much when they first met. But right now, all he could think about was the Kira case, and the polite side of him was pushed to the back of his head, as were the many other sides of him.

His eyes turned back to the pavement ahead of him, not missing the quick image of Kagome's smile dropping. She must have been surprised, or disappointed, that the nice person she'd met earlier wasn't there.

He really didn't expect her to catch up with him.

"You said we would meet again, because we lived so close to each other, and you were right!", she said eagerly as she tried to keep up with his steps.

He didn't say anything, hoping she would just leave him alone. The sound of her voice became a distant buzz in his ears. He had gotten quite well at blocking the world out when he wanted to, though he was still observant.

His lack of response finally paid of. Realizing he wasn't going to speak, Kagome sighed and remained silent for a few seconds.

They passed a supermarket with the front pages of the evening journals displayed in the windows. Light didn't really pay them any attention – it wasn't like he needed any information about criminals at the moment, and even if he did, he had other ways of finding it than through mass media. Though, that wasn't the case with Kagome.

"It's really awful about the whole thing with Kira, isn't it?"

Light slowed down and he gave the girl next to him a quick glance.

"What do you mean?"

Some would have said that the tone in his voice was just a bit to aggressive, but Kagome didn't seem to mind. She was looking over her shoulder, her eyes still stuck on the headlines.

"I mean, it's inhuman. There's no way of stopping... whoever this person is. He basically holds the whole world hostage. Isn't that a frightening thought?"

Light thought about her words. When he first met her, he thought she would be the ideal person to live in his new world – a person willing to sacrifice to prevent crime. But now he realized that it probably meant that she also thought of Kira's actions as a crime.

_It's just because she's an ignorant girl who doesn't see the truth in things. If she knew the truth, she would agree to it. Kira is justice._

"Though, crime rate has dropped several percent ever since he came around," Light commented, being careful to keep his voice steady.

She gave him a surprised look, both because of his words but also because he'd decided to converse with her. They stopped at the cross walk.

"That's not success. It's just proof that the world lives in fear."

"Maybe in a few years, people won't see it that way anymore", Light said and noticed that he could see the headquarters in the distance now. Why was he feeling so impatient? It seemed to take forever before the lights would switch to green...

"What are you trying to-"

The sound of a car pulling at a sudden brake, it's tires sliding uncontrolled over the ice-covered road, and a terrified girl's scream caught Light's attention. He looked to his left and saw instantly how a car was coming closer to them in an impossible speed. People quickly backed away out of range, as did Light. But Kagome didn't. Her eyes were fixed on the car and the paralyzed driver.

She was seconds away from being crushed when Light managed to throw them both out of the way. The car still couldn't stop and continued down the street until the crowd managed to get a hold of the situation. Light didn't look that direction.

Lying on the cold ground with Kagome pinned under him, all he could see was the fresh blood covering his hands. He stared at them in shock.

"Higurashi? Higurashi, can you hear me?"

He called out her name and shook her, tried to get her attention – anything to make sure she was alive.

Kagome made no sign of waking up.

* * *

Like I said in the second chapter - I just love cliffhangers xD

Here's the part from 'Set the fire to the third bar' that inspired the title:

_I'm miles from where you are  
I lay down on the cold ground and I  
I pray that something picks me up  
And sets me down in your warms arms_

It kinda fits the ending of the chapter too,don't you think?:3  
Don't forget to review!


	4. Absence

Hi everyone,sorry for the delay!I got a lot of things going on,though I try to make myself write a little every least I started on the next chapter ;) I just felt I didn't want to wait (or make you wait) any longer,so here it is.  
To be honest,I don't really like this chapter but I hope you do!

Please review - compliments and constructive critique is very much appreciated :)

Disclaimer:The characters don't belong to me.

* * *

**Chapter 4 **Absence

Light's POV

Light didn't have the chance to know what was going on before an ambulance arrived at the scene. It happened surprisingly fast, but maybe that was because he hadn't been waiting for one. Someone in the crowd must have called for it.

It was as if his time had stopped until the ambulance workers tapped him on the shoulder and made him let go of the girl he was holding on to. They pushed him aside to go through with their check-ups of Kagome, and then put her on a stretcher.

He wasn't the type of person who would lose control. But the situation in front of him felt somewhat surreal, making it impossible for him to move. He didn't actually want to go with the ambulance, but apparently he had no choice. Just as easy as pushing him aside, the paramedics almost pulled him inside the vehicle before he had a chance to say anything.

On the ride they forced him to say all the information he knew about Kagome and how he had witnessed the accident. He couldn't really decide why himself, but the paramedics made him frustrated. They seemed so slow in his eyes. He didn't even want to be there in the first place.

His eyes fell on Kagome, intubated and with closed eyes. She would be allright. The crash wasn't that serious. She had just probably hit her head and that was all...

The man who had interrogated him finished whatever he was doing and left Light sitting alone on the bench next to the stretcher. On the opposite side of him was another man, constantly checking the patient's state on a screen next to him.

Light saw how the girl's eyes flickered slightly. Her eyes rolled backward as if she was dreaming. Her breath became condensation on the inside of the oxygen mask. Then Light saw her lips moving, as if she was trying to say something. He leaned closer, listening for her voice. It was hard to make anything out because of the constant beeping from the machines next to him and the blustering from the surrounding traffic. But then it heard it – only faint, but there was definitively a sound. Only one single word. He leaned even closer, so close that his face almost touched her's.

"InuYasha..."

Light frowned. What was that supposed to mean? He was just about to pull back when he heard her weak murmur again.

"The shinigami..."

He froze. Did she just say...? He stayed in the same position, waiting to see if she would say anything more, but she kept quiet. She'd probably lost consciousness again. Light sat up tensely. It was very unlikely that when she said 'shinigami', she meant the same kind that Light knew. How was she supposed to be related to the Death Note?

During the rest of the way to the hospital, Light sat in a stiff position on his bench, watching Kagome as if she was a wild animal about to go on a rampage.

About fourty minutes later, Light stood in the corridor of the hospital, looking into the room in front of him where a doctor was doing some check-ups on Kagome. It was as he thought, the accident hadn't been that serious. She would wake up soon, and probably have headaches and be nauseous for a while – but at least she didn't have a concussion.

He stood with his arms crossed and a serious look on his face. Suddenly, he felt even more bothered by Kagome. Maybe... Just maybe there was more to her than one could see. He turned away and left the hospital, with the decision that he would keep an eye on her.

InuYasha's POV

The rest of the party was surprised that InuYasha returned to the village alone, without Kagome. But they didn't ask any questions and just assumed that they had had another fight. InuYasha didn't say anything either. He was quite angry with Kagome because she didn't seem to care about her own safety, because she was so stubborn – and because the others seemed to side with her. Was he the only one who saw how serious this could be?

He was sitting in his usual place, at the branch of a tree not far from Kaede's house. He wasn't interested in whatever discussion the others were making, as long as it did not involve getting ready to leave, finding Naraku, the Shikon shards or the shinigami. He knew it did not in this case.

His eyes looked over the calm village. Everywhere people where busy with their daily lives. Working, talking, laughing, eating. As usual, the sight made him sort of annoyed. Pathetic humans... How could they be so careless when they might as well be dead the next day? He snorted and looked away.

'_You're just jealous __because you're not part of it.' _That sounded like something Kagome would say. He would deny it, of course, be he would know she was right. Then she would smile at him and say something like; '_Don't be too hard on yourself' _or '_You know you could have a life like that if you just would let yourself relax'. _Yeah, that definitively sounded like Kagome.

"I knew I would find you here."

InuYasha was startled, not realizing that someone had arrived. He looked down on the ground and saw Miroku. The monk was standing with his staff in hand and a content smile on his face. InuYasha hated that smug expression of his.

He snorted. "What now? Are you done talking so soon?"

The monk stretched and looked at some villagers working on a harvest-field.

"I assume that you're bothered because you want to go after... the shinigami?"

InuYasha didn't answer.

"Or maybe Naraku? Or how about the jewel?" He waited for an answer but didn't get any. "Maybe all of them?"

"Well, if you know, then why are we just sitting around?" the half-demon snapped.

Miroku raised an eyebrow.

"So you don't think we should wait for Kagome-sama, then?"

InuYasha rolled his eyes, frustrated by the look on Miroku's face. As if he knew everything.

"She's so stubborn. Who knows when she decides to come back?"

"Oh? What's this? Usually you would go and _force her _to come back." He fell silent for a while. "I doubt it's because you have finally decided to grow up. What's going on?"

"Nothing! If she decides to stay in that weird place and 'study' or whatever it is she's doing, without thinking the least about being attacked or anything like that – then that's _her _problem. _Not mine_!"

When he was finished with outbreak, he realized he had jumped down from the tree and was now standing face to face with Miroku. The monk's expression shifted from surprised to content – that annoying face again.

"I see."

He looked as if he was holding back a chuckle, while trying to appear completely calm. InuYasha snorted and jumped up at the wooden pale next to him. He sat with his legs crossed and his arms hidden in the sleeves of his haori.

"You know, I've been thinking, InuYasha," Miroku said and leaned on the pale. He looked up at the sky as if he was observing the clouds. "I think it may be unwise to just go off and chasing this Justin at the time. We know close to nothing about him or shinigamis. I mean, how are we supposed to defend ourselves if we have no clues to what we are protecting us _from_?" InuYasha didn't respond, but Miroku could tell he was listening. "I know a temple that I used to visit rather often when I was younger, during my training. I know they had at least some knowledge of the so called 'spirits from the realm of the dead'. They might know a bit more about it... Perhaps they could help us."

"I don't know. It's not like scrolls and old looneys at temples have ever helped us before."

"Don't say that, InuYasha. You know it actually _has_ helped us defeat a demon or two in the past. And since we don't really have anything else to work on... Why not? It might actually provide us with something."

Silence.

"So, is this temple far from here?"

Light's POV

He was surprised that he could enter the building so easily, without anyone stopping him on the way and asking why he was already back. Therefore, the idea that Light had, that L was in fact _expecting_ him to come back, seemed to be much more likely. When he opened the doors that lead to the main workroom – the room filled with giant screens and L's enormous control desk, his eyes fell immediately on the hunched figure sitting at the opposite side of the room. The other detectives stopped in their work and stood up when he entered. His father, Soichiro, approached him.

"Light... You didn't need to come back so soon", he said, putting a gentle hand on his son's shoulder.

"It's okay, dad", Light said, trying to keep a suiting expression.

His eyes fell back on L, who was working with something, though Light could tell he was listening. After his dad had asked everything he wanted to ask (about his mother and Sayu, among else), Light nodded at the other members of the task force and approached the desk where L was located.

"I suppose you thought that I would stay home for a bit longer?" he asked casually as he slided down on the chair next to him.

"On the contrary, Yagami-kun. I'm rather surprised it took you so long to get back here."

_Of course you are._

Light smiled stiffly. He shrugged, pretended that he didn't really care, and looked at the computer screen in front of him. "So, anything new I should know about?"  
"I'm afraid not", L said and flipped through some papers he had been reading. "At the moment, we're still trying to find anything that would connect Higuchi to a second Kira."

"I see."

Light reached out for the papers that L held in his hands. L gave them to him without as much as a look. Light went through what the others had been working on while he was gone – which was not much, really – and started contemplating for when he would tell Misa it was time to start the killings again. Perhaps it was time?

"May I ask, Yagami-kun", L suddenly said, getting Light's attention, "what it was that kept you away from here?"

Light didn't know what to respond. What exactly did he mean by that? Was he joking?

He laughed and went back to the papers.

"What do you mean by that, Ryuzaki? I was at home."

"No, that's not what I meant... I meant the blood stains on your shirt. What happened?"

Light held his breath as he realized that L was right. On his white shirt, there was a very small, but still visible, red stain on his collar.

_Damn. Why didn't I notice?_

He didn't have to look to know that the other on the team were all listening intently. Especially his father.

"Actually... there was a small car accident on my way here. Nothing serious, though."

"But you still got blood on you. Were you hurt?" L asked.

He took a small biscuit from a plate next to him and looked back at the computer screen. People would have found this weird, seeing as the conversation was rather serious – involving Light's safety, but people who knew Ryuzaki (or knew him as much as one could) were aware that this was nothing strange.

"No, I'm completely fine. But... there was a girl who was knocked unconscious. I was the one who pushed her away from the car. It's her blood."

"Oh, so you saved her life, Light!" Matsuda cheered.

"Maybe. The crash wasn't that bad but it could have gone worse if she was hit directly."

L took a bite of the biscuit, without a hint of what he might actually be thinking.

"What about the girl? Was she alright?" he asked, although he sounded rather uninterested.

"Yeah... I came along to the hospital but I didn't stay for very long."  
While Matsuda continued his rambling about how brave Light was, how lucky they all were to have him on the investigation, Light and the others returned to work.

The main task was to find out who took care of the killings before Higuchi did, and then identify the second Kira – who could be waiting for a chance to strike any moment. Secondly, now that L was sure that the Death Note could kill in more ways than one, he wanted to check up on the statistics of deaths ever since Kira appeared.

Light kept his eyes focused on his work, but something forced him to pause every now and then. He glanced once or twice in L's direction, but every time he looked, the detective was busy doing something else. Despite that, Light knew what was going on. He was still very much a suspect.

Kagome's POV

Kagome didn't like the atmosphere in the hospital. She felt as if she was locked up, and everyone were watching her – she was being treated like a fragile doll even though she wasn't even hurt. Honestly, she'd have hundreds of injuries that were so much worse than this was. This was barely even a scratch.

She looked at her reflection in the hand-mirror her mother had left for her after her last visit. Beneath her black bangs, there was a clear scar with five stitches. She sighed and tried not to think about what InuYasha would say when he saw her.

_Oh, god. He expects me to go back soon... I really hope he doesn't come after me again._

She didn't really know why the doctors couldn't just release her already. She was perfectly alright. But when she'd asked, they just said some things about a brain concussion or something in that direction.

She had spent the night in the hospital, which was a nightmare. Her mother had arrived at the hospital before she woke up, and sat by her side until the visiting hours were over. It reminded her of how worried her family must be when she was on the other side of the well, where her chances of getting killed were far bigger than here.

She sighed and let her head fall to the side, so that her eyes were turned towards the window.

Kagome had almost fallen asleep when someone entered the room. The sound of footsteps on the floor made her wake up and sit up in the bed. Instinctively, she thought it was her mother again, but instead, she was surprised to see Light Yagami.

He stood a few feet away from the bed, watching her almost suspiciously, with his hands in the pockets of his jacket. Kagome was a little confused by the way he positioned himself – as if she was dangerous.

"Hi", she said gently.

Then she remembered that he was the one who must have saved her yesterday... What happened to him after she got to the hospital?  
"Um, thank you for helping me... If it weren't for you, I don't know what –"

"You don't need to thank me. Just be more careful", he said – still with a very stern expression.

Kagome avoided looking at his face. She almost felt uncomfortable. "This is the second time you've saved me..." she said in a low voice.

Light approached the bed and sat down on the chair next to it. He looked as if he was wondering how he would formulate a question. Kagome waited patiently.

"Yesterday," he began. Kagome nodded. It took a few seconds before he continued. "When you were unconscious, you... mumbled. You said something that got my attention."

_Oh, no._

She really hoped it hadn't been anything embarrassing... Or worse, something involving the other side of the well. It would be rather hard to explain if he'd heard something weird... But even if it was something like that – would someone like Light even believe that?

"You said something about a shinigami." Kagome breathed out without realizing that this got Light's attention. "By shinigami, you do mean the... death gods, right?"

Kagome avoided his gaze, trying to think of a way to explain it. "Well, you see... I live in Shinto temple, remember? And my grandfather has told me horror stories about shingami ever since I was little – I must have said it because I was scared."

_Wow, quick thinking of me! Well, it's partly true, after all..._

Light sat quiet. His expression didn't change much. It made Kagome wonder why he would take it so seriously – was he interested in shingamis? She her fingers on her forehead and traced them after the stitches. They itched.

Light leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. Kagome saw in the corner of her eye how he put fingers on his temple, tilting his head to the side.

"What about... 'InuYasha'?"

"What? Er-I, um..."

_Great. _

Light waited.

"It's, uhm... It's... My pet."

_Yeah, as if he's going to fall for _that_. _

Kagome thought she was right – that Light didn't believe her, but he just looked surprised. After a few seconds he straightened his back, as if his business was finished. She wondered if he was going to leave. If he intended to, then it would have felt as if she was being interrogated.

"Your pet's name is InuYasha?" he asked, a curious smile spreading across his face. "That's an... interesting name."

Kagome felt small sweat pearls rolling down her back.

"Yeah, I guess. I wasn't the one who named him," she said and laughed nervously. Her fingers were drawn back to the stitches again. Light noticed it.

"When will they let you go home?" he asked.

"Today, actually. I don't know when, though. They said they were going to do some check-ups, and then my mother's coming to drive me home..."

Light nodded. Kagome wondered if it was just her imagination, but it seemed to her as if there were many different sides of Light's personality – and it confused her a bit. There was one side which was withdrawn and serious, one who was polite and gentle, and a third who was a bit defensive. While one side was active, the rest of him were nowhere to be seen.

The silence was broken by the sound of a vibrating cellphone. Light stood up and put the phone against his ear.

"Yes, yes. I'll be there. Yes. Okay, then."

With those few words, the conversation was over and Light closed the cellphone and put it back in the pocket of his jacket. He looked back at Kagome.

"Get better", he said and left.

Once again, Kagome couldn't help but feel a little confused.

Light's POV

Kagome was lying. He knew it. It was easy to tell just by judging the look on her face when she spoke, but also by what she said. There are no shinigamis in the shinto religion... Of course it was still possible that it could have been something that her grandfather made up – but seeing how nervous Kagome looked and how she avoided looking at him, he drew the conclusion that she was the one who had made it up.

The question was why. Why would she lie, if she had nothing to hide?

He didn't really care much for the part about "InuYasha". It could be anything, really. He was rather sure she was lying about that part, too, but as long as it didn't have anything to involve with the Death Note or Kira-business, then he didn't care.

_For now, I'll just have to be careful._

Matsuda's POV

The investigation wasn't interesting when Light wasn't around. Oh, Matsuda wouldn't lie – he loved his job, and being part of the Kira investigation was a _real _honor (especially working together with L!) But when the youngest member of the team, Light, wasn't there, everyone else were just quiet and _so deadly serious_. In other words, no fun for Matsuda.

After finishing reading another report, he stretched and yawned. He wondered what time it was, because it was rather to tell in an isolated room like this. He watched his colleagues.

Chief Yagami was showing something to Mogi over by the couches on the other side of the room. Aizawa was reading something, making little notes here and there, just next to Matsuda. Ide and Mogi were nowhere to be seen. Hmm...

Only L left. He was sitting, obviously, by himself over by the big screens. Matsuda had no idea what he was doing, but there was no doubt he was multi-tasking something complicated that required a lot of brains... Brains and _concentration _that Matsuda unfortunately lacked.

Why _did _Light leave again anyway? He looked so serious and then just said that there was something he had to do... Matsuda hadn't heard much, and when he returned from an errand he and Mogi had been sent on – Light wasn't there anymore.

"I wonder when he'll be back...", he sighed to himself.

He didn't have to tell the others who he was thinking about. Aizawa shot Matsuda an annoyed glare. Chief Yagami passed the place where Matsuda was sitting, on his way to the desks where L was located.

"He's visiting a friend at the hospital, he said", Soichiro said over his shoulder

This instantly got Matsuda to straighten up from where he had been loafing over the couch.

"'Friend'? Could it be the girl he saved yesterday?"

The others paused, realizing that Matsuda could be right (for once).

"Maybe", Soichiro said.

A grin spread across Matsuda's face. So, that girl was a 'friend' already... And Light was still, without a doubt, dating Misa. Maybe this would develop into some sort of love triangle. The mere thought seemed just too interesting. Aizawa gave him a glare that said "you watch too many movies", shook his head and returned to work, as did the others on the team.

Powered up by this little piece of information, even Matsuda could return to the big pile of reports. Before he continued reading, his eyes fell on L. Matsuda was as bad as everyone else on reading L, but right now, he could sense one thing;  
L had been listening intently the whole time. Obviously, Light's every move was important to him (even if Matsuda didn't really want to know why), and now this. Light visits a girl he met only once in the hospital? That's got to mean something... Right?

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Reviews please ^_^


	5. Hunt

Here's another chapter!:) It's mostly from Kagome's perspective,and not much about Light at 't worry,there will be more about him I think that when it comes to Light's POV it's going to be much more thinking and speculations than with Kagome.  
And also,I'm very happy that I've got both the InuYasha and Death Note guide-books (the InuYasha book is called InuYasha Profiles and the Death Note book is called Death Note - How to read).They help me a lot when I'm writing this fanfiction,both with timelines and details about characters.

Enjoy,and don't forget to review!;)

Disclaimer:Death Note belongs to Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

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**Chapter 5 **Hunt

Kagome's POV

Even after only a short stay at the hospital, Kagome sighed in relief the same moment she entered the house. She almost made a vow to never leave again, but knew it would be impossible to keep a vow like that. Even if she wasn't obliged to follow a stubborn half-demon on a hunt for jewel shards.

Her mother immediatelly went off into the kitchen to prepare a meal for her daughter. Meanwhile, Kagome decided to take a bath in order to get rid of the stench from the hospital. She opened the door to her room and fell on her bed. She inhaled the scent of "home" and felt her muscles become a little less tense. When she sat up, her fingers searched for the stiches again. They were still there, of course, and she didn't know why she kept feeling for them. She sighed and went for the bathroom.

InuYasha's POV

InuYasha was on his way to the well the same instant the party arrived at the village. His companions didn't even have the chance to ask him where he was going (not that they needed to). They hadn't found out much at the temple, but InuYasha thought that what little they had learned was important enough for Kagome to know as soon as possible. And besides, they were back from their quest (who'd have guessed it took less than a day to travel there? Kagome probably slowed the group down more than he'd guessed), so it was about time she returned.

He landed at the bottom of the dried well, climbed up the wall and rushed out of the little building where the well was located. Even though he was outside the temple, he could still feel Kagome's scent. It was all over the place.

When he was outside the house, he jumped up at the roof below Kagome's bedroom window. This was his usual entrance. Before opening it, he peeked in and saw that she wasn't there. He didn't think that much about it – Kagome was rarely there when he arrived, but she always stormed right to her room when she found out he was there. He pushed the window open and jumped down to the tatami mats.

He wondered if Kagome was home at all, and decided to look for her. When he opened the door leading out of the room, he was instantly hit by the smell of food. He sniffed and followed the scent, jumping from the stairs instead of walking. The scent led him to the kitchen, where he saw a woman he recognized as Kagome's mother. She stood with her back turned against him, mixing ingredients and stirring a pot.

InuYasha sniffed again – the smell was heavenly. Kagome's mother quickly turned around, realizing she wasn't alone.

"Oh, dear...", she gasped. Then she saw who it was and breathed out in relief. "Oh, it's you, InuYasha. You scared me. Don't sneak up on me like that."

She smiled at him. InuYasha didn't return the smile but on the inside he thought how much her smile reminded him of Kagome's. Kagome's mother had always been nice to him, even when he hadn't been nice to her, or Kagome for that matter. He thought it was rather stupid of her, but he never said anything.

"I think Kagome's taking a bath. She will be here soon. Would you like something to eat?", she asked and began setting the table.

While she did so, InuYasha eyed her hesitantly. He was considering accepting the offer when he felt Kagome's scent growing stronger. He turned around and saw her walking through the hallway, dressed in a simple dress. Her hair was wet and she had a towel draped over her head. When she got closer to the kitchen she looked up and saw InuYasha, making her stop. It took a few seconds before she reacted, because she was obviously surprised to see him there.

"Why-"

InuYasha rolled his eyes before she got the chance to finish her rant. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. Kagome looked between the half-demon and her mother.

"Do you even have to ask?"

InuYasha looked at Kagome. He opened his mouth to continue his rambling – telling her like usual how much trouble she caused, but he stopped himself when he saw what was on her forehead.

"Are those scars?" he asked, forgetting what he was about to say.

The frustrated look on Kagome's face disappeared and she put a hand on her forehead, as if it was going to make the scars go away.

"Yes, but, ehm..."

He clenched his fist and felt adrenaline pumping through him. He didn't know if he was feeling like this because he hadn't been there to protect her, or if it was because she hadn't listened to him. This world _was_ dangerous, after all.

"It's just a scratch, really", Kagome said in an attempt to calm him.

"Whatever", Inuyasha muttered and avoided her gaze. There was an awkward silence, which was broken by Kagome's mother.

"So... Are you staying for lunch?"

"No, I'm not" InuYasha glared at Kagome. "Come, we need to talk", he said and swept past her without waiting for her to follow.

They stepped outside. Kagome put her arms around her to keep some warmth – it was starting to get chilly. The half-demon wasn't affected, however. He couldn't help but look towards the enormous tree that rose majestically over the rest of the temple area.

"Seriously, it wasn't that bad..." Kagome mumbled.

He sighed. "Kagome, we went to a temple to learn some more about the shingamis."

She fell silent for a while. "And? Did you find out anything?"

InuYasha turned around, so that he was now facing her. He thought she looked much more frail here than she did on the other side of the well. Why? She was still the same person. Maybe the circumstances made things different.

"You already know that to the shinigamis, time and space is never a hindrance", he began. "That's not the only thing... Just like all demons have, the shinigamis have developed through the centuries. Which means they could have abilities here that they don't have on the other side of the well. Or that they lack abilties here that they used to have."

"Oh."

Kagome didn't seem surprised. She took a deep breath to process the information – this could mean more risks... more danger. The look on her face strenghtened InuYasha's will to protect her from Justin.

She looked down at her feet. Her knees were scraped – possibly from the same accident that gave her the scars.

"So, what happened to you?" he asked in a demanding tone.

The girl sighed, knowing that the question would come up. "It wasn't serious..."

"Still, what happened?"

"It was... Just a car accident."

A 'car' accident. Kagome had mentioned that the big, noisy carriages that passed through the streets in this world were called something like that. He never quite understood what they were good for – but apparently they were much more functional than horse-drawn carriages. She had tried to convince him that they weren't dangerous (the first time he saw one, he almost attacked it before Kagome stopped him), but InuYasha hadn't believed her.

"It'll heal quickly", he finally said. "Come on, gather your things and we'll go."

Kagome smiled weakly. "Yeah, let's go."

Light's POV

When Light came home, it was dark outside. The sun must have gone down when he was not aware of it – much faster than he had expected. While he made his way home, and observed the almost abandoned streets, he wondered to himself if there could be anyone hiding in the shadows. Would they, now that Kira was around?

_It didn't stop them from attacking that boy. Or Kagome, for that matter._

He made a turn and walked up the driveway that led to his house. It was dark inside as well. His mother and sister must have already gone to bed. He pulled out his keys from the inside pocket of his jacket and was careful not to make any sound when he opened the door.

Trying to be as quiet as possible, he got out of his shoes and outwear, slipping up the stairs and into his room.

When he closed the door behind him, his cellphone vibrated in his trouser pockets. He sighed, wondering who could be trying to get in contact him in the middle of the night (except for L and the others, of course). There would only be one person...

That's right. Misa.

"_Back in town for a week or 2. When can we meet?"_

The message was followed by a number of hearts and smileys. Light sighed. Maybe it should feel as if things were easier when Misa was close at hand, and not far. But there was this constant need for attention that was hard to deal with...

While considering what to reply, he sank down on his bed.

Since Light had met Justin recently, Kagome had mentioned another shinigami, and there was still a slight chance that another Death Note could appear as things looked now... It could be a good opportunity to finish L now, before anything happened that caught his attention. On the other hand, if something _did _happen, could it be connected with Light himself? If there was something going on with Kagome, it wouldn't take long until the others found out that she'd met Light.

He sighed again. As soon as there were other shinigami in the picture, things got frustrating. If he could only find Justin and speak to him again, about that mission of his...

He flipped his cellphone open and began texting Misa.

"_We can arrange a meeting soon. This is not a good time. Keep doing what I told you to." _

Right before he pressed the 'send' button, he froze. What if the shinigami Kagome had mentioned was Justin? Ryuk had said that Justin was after a girl, hadn't he? And Light doubted there were many shinigami just paying the human's world a visit. It couldn't just be a coincidence.

Light sent the message and sat up in bed. He needed to talk to Justin... So how to find him?

He sent Misa another text.

"_Tell Ryuk to find Justin."_

Kagome's POV

Miroku, Sango and Shippo were waiting for them at the end of the forest between the well and the village. Miroku and Sango had apparently been caught up in a conversation and did not notice when they arrived. Shippo, on the other hand, was quick to scurry over and jump into Kagome's embrace. She laughed and promised that she would give him his treats later. She glanced at InuYasha, whose face suddenly became serious when he looked at Miroku and Sango. They both seemed rather anxious about something.

"Has something happened?" she asked.

Sango looked at the half demon. "Just after you left, InuYasha, a group of villagers brought back a wounded salesman that they had found on the road", she said, furrowing her eyebrows. "He was covered in blood. He said his companions had been slaughtered by some sort of demon. One that looked like a skeleton, with bat-like wings."

"Could it have been a shinigami?" InuYasha asked.

"We didn't find out. He died before we got the chance to ask much else", Miroku explained. He shook his head at the memory. "He said that his entire village had been slaughtered."

Kagome thought of Justin. At first glance, he would remind you of a skeleton. Maybe he would even if looked at him a second time, or every time you laid eyes on him – but his most distinguished feature was, of course, the jewels covering his entire body. Though there was still a chance that the demon that poor man had mentioned was Justin (or another shinigami). Nevertheless, even if it wasn't a shinigami – a demon massacring an entire village couldn't be left alone like that. Something had to be done.

"Shall we go, then?" she asked and the others nodded.

Before they left the village, they returned to Kaede. Kagome unpacked the things that weren't necessary on a demon hunt, like candy and such, and left them for Shippo. When her packings were slightly easier to carry, and they had stocked up on other supplies that might be useful, they departed.

When it got dark, they had already gotten quite far on their journey to the attacked village, so they set up camp. Miroku reminded them that it was important to rest now, so that they could regain some strength before they found the demon. InuYasha snorted at this and said that one night's rest wasn't a big difference, at least not to him, but he didn't say anything else. In fact, he denied Sango of taking the first shift so that she could go to sleep. Kagome smiled at this – but out of his view, of course.

She placed her sleeping bag not far from InuYasha sat, leaning against the stem of a tree. When she had found a comfortable position, she turned to silently watch the half-demon. He was watching the fire, but Kagome could tell he was very observant. All his senses were alert. He probably knew she was watching him.

"Kagome", he said, confirming her suspicions. She lifted her head slightly, so that he knew she was listening. "I don't want you to go back through the well again."

Kagome couldn't believe what she was hearing. It took her a moment to realize he was serious. She sat up.

"Wh-"

She stopped herself from screaming. She gave Miroku's and Sango's sleeping shapes a quick glance before returning to InuYasha.

"Are you insane?" she hissed. "Of course I have to go back! It's where I belong, it's –"  
"I don't mean permanently," InuYasha continued, giving her a frustrated look. "Just until this whole thing with Justin is over. It's not safe for you to be by yourself... especially not when we can't know if he's stronger or... You know."

Kagome didn't know what to say. She understood his worry, but this time there was not really much she could do. She rested her head in her palm and sighed.

_Again with being overprotective._

"InuYasha, for the _last time_. I'll be fine."

He didn't look at her.

Sure, Kagome was a bit worried that Justin might be stronger and at a clearer advantage in her own time. But she had been there a few times already and nothing had happened. Nothing had happened ever since they met him the first time. Was he really after her? Was he waiting for something?

"I'll need to go back. But I promise I'll be careful." InuYasha rolled his eyes, implying that he was thinking something in the lines of 'yeah-as-if-that's-ever-helped-you-before'. "I'll be _extra careful._ And if something happens, I promise to run straight to the well."

That seemed to make him at least a bit content, because he didn't argue or anything. He nodded slowly. He looked at her with his amber eyes, that looked even more golden in the light of the fire. In them, she could see true concern, leaving Kagome with a strange knot in her stomache. Once again, she asked herself why he was acting like this.

"Go back to sleep", he said, and Kagome didn't argue.

Just after the sunrise, when the sky was still pink and had not lost all of the dark shades yet, Kagome woke up to see that the others were already making themselves ready to leave. She sat up, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and joined them shortly. It hadn't been very easy to sleep. After a while she had been disturbed by the image of a skeleton chasing her, and after that it was hard to sink into the peaceful sleep again. She wanted to get going quickly, to be occupied with something so that she wouldn't have time to think about her dream.

The rest of the trip went without any distractions. They didn't want to pause and waste any more time, so they arrived at the village in the afternoon. Or, what was left of it.

It looked as if a storm had swept past the landscape. The houses had been sunk to the same level as the ground, piles of raffles covering the ground as far as the eye could see. The surrounding trees had fallen as well, and crushed many of the buildings as well. Kagome could see a few bodies, some buried under the shackles, others lying in the wide open, in a pool of blood. Though in some places, it looked as if nothing had ever happened. There was a big bonfire in the center of the village, with some of the firewood still glowing. Kagome wondered if the bonfire was meant as a signal for help, or if it was a festive one... Right next to the fire, there was a mother lying with her face down, who had died trying to protect her little daughter. The child couldn't have been more than four years old, and now she was lying there with a mangled body and empty eyes turned up to the sky.

Kagome shivered and looked away.

"We should look for survivors", Sango said and took a step forward, but InuYasha stopped her.

"Sango, I doubt that anyone would be alive after this. Those that didn't survive the hurricane were probably killed by the shinigami itself", he said.

The demon huntress looked as if she wanted to interject, but fell silent when she realized he was right. Miroku sighed.

"Despite that, it would be a good idea to look around... Before we search for the shinigami."

InuYasha agreed and they split in pairs. Kagome went with InuYasha to examine the western part of the village, while Sango and Miroku took the other part.

Everytime they passed a body, Kagome tried to catch a glance of it to make sure that he or she was actually dead. But none of them were alive – they were all lying in positions that would make it impossible for them to be alive. The sights made her nauseous, but she still felt that it had to be done.

The smell of blood overwhelmed her. She tried to stop and take a deep breath every now and then, but it didn't help, instead it had the opposite effect.

"What was he after?" she asked in a low voice.

InuYasha looked over his shoulder when he heard her speak.

"What do you mean?"

She looked at him. "What was his purpose for attacking this village? I mean, we don't know much about their abilities and stuff, but do you think he would gain anything by doing this?"

"Kagome, there are many demons who attack and kill without having any reason. They're doing it just because they _can_."

She shook her head as if she didn't want to believe it.

"But this is a shinigami, isn't it?"  
He didn't have any answer for that. He looked at a corpse a few feet away and shrugged.

"Let's keep looking. Maybe we'll find so-"

He was interrupted by an ear-piercing shriek. Kagome covered her ears and they spun around, quickly scanning the area for any sign of life.

"There!" Kagome yelled when her eyes fell on a big, black shape sitting on a half-crushed house not too far away.

InuYasha stepped in front of her and brandished his Tessaiga. The creature was watching them intently, as if it was curious to what they might do. Kagome realized that this was not a shinigami, and she thought that InuYasha understood this as well, because his expression got only little less tense. Though, it was still a demon and they needed to be on their guard. It had slaughtered a whole village.

Suddenly the demon moved and spread its wings. It flew just above InuYasha's and Kagome's heads, leaving a forceful wind behind it. As it came closer to the ground, InuYasha raised his sword and rushed towards it, unleashing Kaze no kizu. The demon just barely avoided it and screeched down at them, with its fangs bared. Kagome took a deep breath and readied her bow. She was shaking, so it was hard to aim at it. The creature hissed. He flapped his wings as if he was about do attack her, but before he had the chance to dive, he was interrupted by a gigantic boomerang flying towards him.

This time, he didn't manage to avoid it, but it only hit his wing. The demon screeched again, louder and more ear-damaging than before. Kagome looked behind her just in time to see the weapon returning to its owner, Sango. She ran up to them, ready to strike again.

"Where's Miro-"

Kagome's question was answered before she got the time to ask it. Suddenly the demon had six talismans covering its body, appearing as if out of thin air. Kagome had seen those talismans before – they repelled demonic energy and Miroku had used them many times before. The demon screeched and tried to get rid of them, but it was useless. Soon, Miroku appeared behind the demon, standing opposite to the rest of the group.

"It must be a very strong demon, if those talismans aren't enough to finish it," Sango said.

"You also noticed that it's not a shinigami?" Kagome asked in a low voice.

"It's obvious, since the aura is completely demonic and has no trace of the dark, sacred energy that Justin had."

Kagome nodded. Her suspicions matched the demon slayer's.

"Kagome, watch out!"

InuYasha's warning came out of nowhere, and Kagome barely had any time to react. She saw the demon diving at her, but Sango threw them both out of the way. Another forceful wind blew against them, and it felt as if it lasted much longer than it did. Kagome had her eyes closed and just waited for it to stop. She could hear InuYasha screaming in the background, but couldn't make out any words.

Sango had them both pressed to the ground, trying desperately to protect them from the wind. It was almost hard to breathe because of the strong force.

Kagome opened her eyes as much as it was possible. She couldn't see the demon. She could barely see anything, except the shape of InuYasha in the distance. He was easy to find because of his distinctive clothes.

Then suddenly, a sharp sting of pain overwhelmed her. She screamed. It felt as if her whole face was burning. She thought that something had hit her, but it had happened so quickly so that she hadn't reacted. The pain wouldn't go away, but kept pulsing through her.

Eventually, the wind died out. Sango tried to get a hold of Kagome, who wouldn't stop writhing as if that would make the pain go away.

"Kagome-chan, what's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"Make... it stop!" Kagome sobbed.

She had both her hands pressed to her face. Sango pulled one of the hands away to get a better look at the girl's face. When she saw what caused the pain, she gasped at the sight. The wound stretched from Kagome's hairline, across her temple, her cheek and jaw. Even though it couldn't have been there for more than a minute or two, it looked as if it had been there for days without being treated – in other words, infected.

"Oh, no..." Sango whispered.

"Kagome!"

InuYasha and Miroku came running – they must have managed to finish the demon of, somehow. The half-demon sank down right next to Sango, and looked anxiously at at Kagome. Even he was covered in blood, but probably from the demon and not from himself.

"What's wrong with her?" he demanded.

"I-I don't know", Sango answered, and in a rather distressed tone. "Suddenly, she was just screaming, and then there was a wound. I don't know how or when it happened..."

Miroku joined them, sitting on Kagome's other side.

"I think I saw the demon striking in your direction. It would have been hard for you to notice with strong wind, but it must have attacked Kagome", he said.

He examined Kagome's face. "We better hurry back to Kaede's village. She needs treatment."  
InuYasha lifted Kagome without saying anything else. The other stood up as well, getting ready to depart.

"Sango, can she ride with you on Kirara?" he asked.

The demon slayer nodded. "Of course." She turned around to see that her furry companion had already transformed into her bigger form. Even if she was an animal demon, it was easy to tell that she was concerned as well.

As InuYasha carried her, Kagome slightly opened her eyes. The pain had made her almost completely numb by now, and she wasn't far from unconciousness. But there was one dreadful feeling that just wouldn't go away – it was like a hallucination.

The feeling of being watched.

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(A/N) My,all Kagome do is getting hurt.I'm not very nice to her,am I?xD  
Review!:)


	6. Feel

Voilà,another chapter!This time, a really long one - almost nine and a half pages!So it was a slow update but I hope this makes up for it.  
You can say in this chapter and in the next,the story 'starts' for real.  
I'm sorry if both Light and Kagome seem a little drugged in this chapter...

Read and enjoy,and don't forget to tell me what you think!:D  
I'm a little afraid that there might be some sentences that doesn't make sense,but English isn't my first language so I don't notice...If there are,sorry for that.

Disclaimer:InuYasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata.

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**Chapter 6 Feel**

Light's POV

The sky had a color of mixed grey, almost like a swirl of rainclouds. The sun was nowhere to be seen, yet everything seemed bright. It was a typical winter day, and Light almost expected it to snow when he came outside. But there was no snow, and he didn't think anything of it either.

He was standing on the roof of the investigation building, and watched Tokyo move beneath his feet. He came here often, because of what the view made him feel. In control. Powerful.

He had reassured L that he was only taking a short break. Normally, L would have commented, given him a long look or at least reacted in _some way, _but not this time. No, something was odd about the detective. Well, more than usually. When Light stood up and left the room, L hadn't even glanced at him. In fact, he wasn't even looking at his work. He was deep in thought – and just because it was easy to tell, everyone knew that something was strange.

He sighed and put his hands in his pockets. He thought he could feel someone approaching, so he looked over his shoulder and saw Rem appearing out of nowhere.

"What is it?" Light asked. He made sure to keep his voice low, of course. He hoped that she didn't want to discuss anything that would catch L's attention – he was sure that there were cameras or listening devices placed somewhere even on the roof.

The shinigami looked at him with golden eyes, that appeared so cold even though the color was warm. It was obvious that Rem didn't like Light very much, but she remained loyal to him in order to keep Misa safe. That made her rather stupid in Light's eyes, but even she had her uses.

"It's about L", she said, her dark voice almost echoing. Light tensed – why would she talk about L? Here? "I thought your plan was to lead his suspiscions away from you."

"Yes, but what of it?"

It took a while before she spoke again. It was as if she was wondering if he had a plan that he hadn't told her about – which was actually true.

"Well... From the way he's been acting... Especially when you haven't been around... I would say it doesn't exactly look like you're not a suspect to him."

"Well, of course. L isn't that stupid", Light said. "Just because they arrested Higuchi, got his Death Note, and because of other evidence that would lead the tracks away from me – to L, that's no proof that I was never involved from the start."

"But-"

"Rem, not here," Light whispered. He gave her an angry look to make her stop talking. Then he left the roof. Right before he opened the door to the stairs, he felt something wet on his nose. He looked up. Small drops of water fell from the sky, and soon covered the stone floor.

Light paused and then went inside.

Kagome's POV

Kagome awoke to the sound of the half-demon bickering with the demon-slayer. Their voices were distant at first, but after a while the sound of them pulled her out of her unconciousness.

She moaned and rolled over to her side, just like she used to do in the mornings when her alarm clock told her to wake up.

The sign of her moving made the disturbers stop yelling instantly, and their attention was now focused on Kagome.

"Kagome-chan, are you allright?" Sango asked her. She sat down at her left side, trying to get a look at her face.

Kagome opened one of her eyes and saw Sango's worried face. She had some bruises and a band-aid, but no sign of heavier injury.

"I don't know...", Kagome mumbled. Which was true. She still felt dizzy and only half-awake, so she couldn't tell if she was felling well or not.

She felt someone sitting down at her other side, facing her back. She guessed it was InuYasha, but he didn't say anything.

"It must be the poison". Kaede entered the hut and approached the group sitting in the corner. She was carrying a bucket of water. "You had a high fever when they got you here."

"Poison...?"

Kagome tried desperately to remember what had happened during the fight. She remembered the demon, the skeleton-like face and their struggle but... What happened then?

The old woman sat down at the fire. She began preparing the ingredients for something, maybe food or medicine.

"I'm afraid I don't know what to treat you for. This poison seems rather severe. I don't dare testing new antidotes when you're in this state", she said.

"Then... what's going to happen to her?" InuYasha asked.

Kagome felt a big lump in her throat when she heard the pain in InuYasha's voice. He sounded very worried and it made her heart ache.

She then noticed that Miroku was also sitting by the fire, on Kaede's side. The dark color of his robes had made him blend into the shadows and made it difficult for Kagome to see him.

"For Kagome-sama's sake... Maybe she should go back to her own time again-"

"You have got to be kidding me, Miroku!" InuYasha growled.

Kagome pressed her eyes shut. Great. He was angry again. And screaming – making her head hurt. And then Miroku got angry as well.

"So you really think it's a good idea to just leave her here and wait for what's going to happen? What if Kaede-sama's medicine doesn't have any effect? What if she _dies_, InuYasha?"

He didn't have a response for that. Everyone were so silent that Kagome swore she would have heard a needle fall to the floor.

Kagome tilted her head so that she could look at the half-demon, now standing up. He looked back at her. Hesitant. Concerned.

"InuYasha...", she mumbled, hoping he would calm down.

He swallowed whatever he was going to say and swept past his party members. He pushed the curtain at the entrance aside and was gone. Only a few seconds of silence surrounded them, hinting that they were all rather tired but aware of what InuYasha meant when he left them - before Miroku spoke.

"I'll pack your things, Kagome-sama. We'll help you get to the well. InuYasha's probably waiting.

Light's POV

And finally, it was snowing.

Light didn't notice it at first, but when he did, it was because a snowflake fell on his nose. It melted and left a drop of water, running down the side of his nose and continuing down his cheek.

He dried it away with his sleeve and looked at the road in front of him. It must have been snowing for a while, because the ground was beginning to covered up by whiteness.

A little girl laughed and caught his attention. He looked to the other side of the road, where she was dancing beneath the rain of flakes, jumping and trying to reach them. Not far from her, her father was standing and waiting for her with a smile on his face. The girl was wearing a pink tuque and scarf, covering almost half of her face, but even from Light's distance, he could see her wide smile.

After a while, her father approached her and stretched out his hand, informing her it was time to leave. She stopped her little dance and looked disappointed. But then her father said something, which Light couldn't hear, and her face lit up again. She gladly took her dad's hand and they continued down the street, in the opposite direction of that which Light was going.

He hadn't realized that he had stopped moving only to watch them. His clothes were now covered with flakes and his exposed face was getting a bit cold.

The scene with the girl and her father had reminded Light of something. Of himself when he was much younger, the same year he started school.

The day it began snowing for the first time, Light was out with his own father. Soichiro had stopped and thought it was pretty, and declared that it was winter at last. Light couldn't remember the opinion of his younger self, but he remember that when he heard his father's words, he was suddenly very interested in watching the falling snow. He stood next to his father for minutes. What disturbed him was that the flakes melted the minute they reached the ground. And every year after that, he would be frustrated when the snow wouldn't stay.

Well, not anymore. Somewhen along the road, small and unimportant things like that stopped having an impact on him. It could have been snowing in the middle of summer and Light wouldn't care.

He inhaled the cold air and resumed walking. He turned to the left, away from the main street, which led to a small residential area. It was a short-cut leading to the city center which he used when he didn't want to pass too many people.

He passed a great pair of stone stairs. Something in the corner of his eye made him halt suddenly and look up to the top of them. It was the torii entrance of a shinto temple... And even though this wasn't the first time he had walked this street, first now he recognized this neighbourhood. It was here he had dropped off Kagome the first time they had met. Of course. This was the temple where she lived.

He looked up to the top of the stairs, half-expecting the girl to show up. He couldn't be sure why, but this temple was one of the things that could give Light a feeling that he should be on his guard. He furrowed his eyebrows, unaware that he was becoming more tense. Almost spitefully so, he shook his head and tore his eyes away from the torii.

Once again, the thoughts and memories of Kagome entered his mind. When he looked back at the road, which was almost completely white now – covered by untouched snow, he could see her standing before him. She turned around and smiled at him, but when he blinked she was gone.

Kagome's POV

When she came to, she heard the distant sound of a train speeding through the tunnels. She realized she was sitting in one of the underground trains in modern Tokyo. It was hard to remember how or when she got here. In fact, she couldn't remember when she travelled through the well.

Was this a dream?

Kagome was breathing slowly and felt very relaxed. The background noises of a moving train, people chattering and cellphones ringing wasn't bothering her. Perhaps this was a dream after all.

She leaned back against the window, and was surprised that she could feel its cold instantly connecting with the back of her head. She frowned but didn't move. It was harder and harder for her to concentrate on anything at all.

The train speeded through a tunnel. The lights in the ceiling flickered on and off, again and again, struggling to keep itself alive – but it soon lost power and the wagon was completely dark. No one made any move or sound, at least not that Kagome could hear or take notice of. She continued to stare through the window on the opposite side, where you could still make out shapes and quickly passing lights from the outside world.

Soon, the light was back and the train exited the tunnel. Kagome blinked to let her eyes adjust to the sudden change. When she looked forward again, the seat directly in front of her was occupied by a man. When or how he had appeared so quickly, so soundlessly, she did not know.

Even in her state, Kagome found the man quite curious. First of all, he was sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest, with one hand placed orderly on each knee. He was wearing old, worn-out sneakers, but on the inside his feet were naked. His clothes – a white, longsleeved shirt and a pair of blue jeans, were baggy and hanging loosely on his scrawny body. He had dark, messy hair pointed in all directions – and the bangs were almost completely covering his eyes. But she could still see them, in her dream-like state, from the other side of the train.

Dead, cold eyes piercing through her as if he knew everything about her.

Light's POV

The cold had now pierced through his layers of thick clothing. He halted abruptly, in the middle of town and surrounded by people. A wind blew past him and refreshed the coldness. He shuddered and his teeth were chattering.

He realized that he had walked past the investigation's building. He sighed frustratedly, turned around and gazed at its shape in the distance.

Again, he could see the vision of Kagome, looking in the same direction as himself, turning around and looking at him, then vanishing into thin air.

His breaths were becoming heavier and quicker. Seeing her made him confused, that was true, but most of all, it made him angry.

He dashed away in the opposite direction, away from the investigation without any real idea of where he was headed.

Kagome's POV

"You seem a bit distracted."

Kagome flinched and sat up straightly in her seat. The mysterious man was now sitting on her left side, still with his legs pulled up to the seat, and he watched her every move intensly. Even if Kagome felt as if she had woken up suddenly again, she was aware that this was not the case. She knew that she had already talked to this man quite a while... But she couldn't remember their conversation very well.

Her eyes flickered towards the man, but she was very careful not to meet his eyes. Even if his appearance was quite... prominent, and he obviously didn't care for things such as personal space – Kagome found that she was not repulsed by him at all.

She tried to speak, but found that she was unable to. The man ignored it, though, and saw her watching him as a sign that she was listening to him.

"I'm a bit curious of your opinion in a certain matter", he said without looking at her. Judging by his tone, one could think that he had known Kagome for a very long time. "It's concerning the Kira case."

_Oh, straight to the point..._

She waited for him to speak, as she started to feel more relaxed once again.

"Let's say that there was a person you knew you could trust", he began, talking very clearly as if he was making sure that she followed. "This person is not only your friend, but has also very good reputation and is well respected by everyone surrounding him or her."

He turned to look at her, waiting for her reaction as he finished his question formulation. "If it one day turned out that this person was different on the inside – that he or she was in fact using their surroundings in order to achieve something that would harm something or someone... Would you say that this person cannot longer be trusted, that he or she has become someone else and that there's no chance of going back to who they used to be?"

_That's a strange question. Is there a hidden meaning, perhaps? _

"Wait...", Kagome said slowly, concentrating hard to be able to form her words correctly. "What does this have to do with the Kira case?"

"Indirectly. I want to know how you would react in this sort of situation first."

Kagome deliberated her answer. She didn't know the meaning of the question, but she tried to imagine herself in the situation that was painted up for her.

She didn't know much about betrayal. She'd seen it happen to other people, but the only time that she could recall that she actually felt betrayed by someone else... It was when Kikyo stole the Shikon-shards from her and then left her to die in Naraku's illusion. But she didn't really think that that situation and this situation matched.

"Well... I would be devastated. Even more so if I was very close with this person, but that's rather obvious. But I wouldn't say that it was impossible for him or her to make amends. It's all really depending on what he or she has done, right? Also, it might be _harder _to trust the person, but not impossible. And then it's up to yourself. It you want to let yourself forgive."

The man looked at an invisible spot over Kagome's shoulder, thinking deeply about what she had said.

"What if the person had done something that in your eyes could not be forgiven?" He looked at her again, his dead eyes appeared to be deeper somehow. "What if he had committed, in your eyes, the worst crime possible?"

Without much time to think, Kagome already had an answer. "Again, it depends on the situation. What if he or she had reasons to do it? Reasons that weren't as corrupted as the crime itself? Sure, it would still be horrible and I would maybe distance myself from the person... But if he or she meant a lot to me, and I knew that they wanted to be forgiven... Maybe I could let myself do that sometime in the future."

The man brought his thumb to his lips and started biting at his nail. "Still, it sounds as if it would take a lot of patience and even more trust to do so..."

Judging by the tone of his voice, Kagome thought it sounded as if he wanted to add 'and some stupidity' as well.

She sighed deeply, feeling tired.

"Let me ask again; what does this have to do with the Kira case? Are you wondering how I would react if my friend turned out to be Kira?"  
"Perhaps."

The man reached into the pocket of his jeans and brought out a small, rainbow colored lollipop. He immediatelly began the process of devouring it. Kagome watched him with raised eyebrows – even in her delirious state, she thought that the man's odd appearance and the candy didn't quite go together. Or maybe they did?

"Now let me ask you something that directly concerns this case." He paused for a moment. "This time, don't pretend that you know Kira or someone who would be involved. What kind of personality does he have in your mind?"

Now this was a question that made a bit more sense in Kagome's eyes. But why did he want her opinion so much?  
"He's a murderer, I-"

"Do you think that decides what kind of person he would be?"

"No... All people are different. And most killers have different reasons for doing it..."

He looked at her, waiting for a final answer. His gaze reminded her a bit of a bitter teacher who wanted her to answer a question in front of the whole class, waiting impatiently to carry on with the lesson.

"If I bring myself to think about the reasons for what he's doing – killing criminals... His goal is to clear the world of criminals, or something like that, right? There's no way I would ever agree with his actions, but if you think about it, he makes it seem like the intention is good." Kagome paused and thought about her own words. Her opinion seemed much clearer when she talked about it. "He's almost like a child. Even if he means well, his actions aren't the right way to go."

The man seemed to become more interested when she a comparison with a child. Kagome herself wondered if it made her sound silly.

"Anything else?" he asked.

"In my eyes, it looks like he's trying to do something good. Or that's he's trying to prove something", Kagome said. "For personality, when I think about his actions and his goal, he appears to have both good and bad sides. He's trying to make people think like him. Struggling. He's very determined. Stubborn."

The train came to a halt. The man was still watching her but hadn't changed expression. Without looking outside, or before the voice in the speakers had declared what station it was, he said;  
"This is your stop, isn't it?"

It was indeed Kagome's stop, and she left the train without asking him how he knew. Much to her surprise, he followed shortly behind her. The underground was mostly empty, which wasn't very strange since it was a late evening in the middle of the week.

As soon as she got of the train, Kagome could feel her mind clearing up a bit. The feverish- feeling was still there but she felt like she had control of herself once again. Not like she was about to fall asleep any minute.

She took a deep breath, but when she felt the scent of the subway, she had a strong craving for fresh air. She glanced at the man beside her.

"Was this your stop, too?" she asked.

"Yes, it is", he said and started walking towards the stairs that led back to the surface.

Even when he was walking, his back was slouching and every step made it look like his shoes were uncomfortable to him. Kagome had no trouble keeping up with him, but felt it was polite to not go too far ahead.

Soon they were met by fresh air. Kagome saw the ground was covered with snow, though it had already begun to melt in some places – creating pools of water here and there. Had it been snowing when before she got on the train as well?  
She didn't remember what she had done before she saw the man. She must have been really delirious. Maybe it was best if she just got home before it got any worse. She was feeling a bit sick.

"Um..."  
She turned towards the man and was about to say goodbye. But he was already on his way, headed in the opposite direciton as herself. He stopped only for a bit and glanced at her over his shoulder.

"We'll meet again."

Kagome was a bit puzzled by him, but couldn't decide if it was something she should feel concerned about (even though a more awake Kagome would).

It was dark outside, yet it couldn't be very late. Kagome wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to keep some warmth on her way home. She walked slowly, because where the ground wasn't buried by snow, it was wet and slippery.

On the big screen, sitting on the wall of a building, a news anchor was mumbling in the background. Her words didn't reach Kagome's ears until 'Kira' was mentioned. First she slowed down as she heard how the news anchor was beginning the story. With time, she turned even more slowly so that she was standing facing the monitor.

"_Even though the Japanese task force has confirmed that the homicides caused by Kira will be at a halt, people from the whole world are still in doubt – and fear. Some argue that the lack of information from the task force doesn't make them feel safer. Some even claim that without any real explanation to what has happened, they can't be content."_

The screen now showed a middle aged man out on the street, wearing glasses and an upset expression.

"_The police said that there are still people involved in the case that aren't taken into custody, right? That means that there's still a big risk the killings might start again! The police can't possibly mean that we should just pretend that nothing's going on, right?"_

"Higurashi?"

Kagome gasped at the sudden call-out and spun around. Behind her was Light Yagami, dressed in a winter jacket, hair filled with snowflakes and reddened cheeks. He looked equally surprised to see her.

Light's POV

"Yagami-kun!"

His eyes drifted from Kagome to the big screen. Five men dressed in suits debated the Kira case. Or rather, they were debating the crediblenes of the Kira investigation.

"Kira... He's evil..."

"What?"

He looked back to Kagome, who was now looking down at her feet. She hung her head, but her movements seemed awfully relaxed. Like she couldn't really control herself – as if she didn't have the strength to hold her head up any longer. He reached out to her shoulder, to see if he could catch a glimpse of her face.

"Higu-"

"Maybe... Maybe he's a shinigami?"

He dropped his hand instantly as if he was burned. There was that word again. That one time at the hospital, she could have meant something else – but again, and this time she connected them with Kira? That was no coincidence. But how was he supposed to question her without raising her suspiscions?

"Higurashi, are you feeling allright?"

Her eyes shot up again as if she had woken up suddenly. She saw Light and her face lit up.

"Yagami-kun, what are you doing here?"  
This confused Light. What was with this odd behaviour?

"Um... Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah... ", Kagome answered but then seemed to change her mind. She brought a hand to her head, furrowing her eyebrows as if she had a headache. "Or actually no... No, I don't feel very good..."

She lost her balance, and her legs gave way beneath her. But before she touched the ground, Light got a hold of her shoulders and kept her standing. He got a proper look at her face, seeing that her cheeks were feverish red, and not only from the cold. He reached out to touch her forehead, brushed away her bangs to uncover it. Yes, she was definitely ill. She was burning up. He saw the stitches on her forehead – the remains of the wound that she had received in the car accident. And then his eyes fell on another scar that was several times worse than this was. It had been hard to notice at first, because it was dark outside and her hair covered most of it – but now that he had seen it, it was hard to _not_ notice it. It stretched from her hairline and ended just next to the lobe of her ear.

He let his fingers fall from her forehead to her cheek, examining the scar closer. It was a deep wound, yet it looked like most of it had healed. Had she seen a doctor about this? If so, then why wasn't it bandaged?

He came back to reality when Kagome's own fingertips reached for the scar. He pulled his hand away.

"You know, Yagami-kun...", she said without looking at his face. "You're a really good person."

"You think so?" Light laughed, but on the inside he regained his guard. She was acting strangely, but was it all because of the fever? "I think I'd better make sure you get home. Come on, it's not that far to walk."

He put a hand on her back and turned her in the right direction.

Misa's POV

Misa had been happy to quit work early that day. As soon as she could, she took the train and jumped off at the station that led to Light's neigbourhood. She wanted to see him today.

By the time she reached town, it was already dark outside and it was very cold. She wasn't wearing a real jacket (only a black hoodie on top of a torn tank top, a mini skirt and fish-net leggings). But she didn't care – she would see Light soon, after all, and just the thought of him filled her with warmth.

There were many people outside, so in some places one had to push through the crowd to move forward, but Misa was still skipping through the parts where there was more space to move.

While she was spinning in a circle, something caught her eyes. Light's jacket was there, in the middle of the crowd. When she stopped, she could see clearly that the jacket was in fact Light's back. Her happiness spread across her face as her mouth was pulled up into a smile. She laughed and ran towards him.

"Liiiight-"

But then she stopped. He wasn't alone. She gasped when she realized that it was a girl, only a few years younger then herself. What was significantly worse was that Light was standing very close to her. He even had his hand on her cheek.

Her heart began pounding, and she watched as if in slow motion how the girl brought her own hand above his. And she looked up at Light's face.

_No. No. No. This can't be. Who is that girl? Why would Light do that-?_

Tears began filling her eyes. Light was pulling away from the girl now, which filled her with a little relief, but that didn't change what she had just seen. He had looked at her with much concern and worry. Genuin worry.

She swallowed, tried to get rid of the big lump in her throat.

_Leave her, Light. Don't touch her. Don't look at her. Leave her now!_

But Light didn't leave her. He put a hand, his warm hand that he had touched Misa with, on the girl's back. And he brought her with him and disappeared into the crowd.

Misa sniffled. Tears had already begun falling. And now, for the first time in the whole day, she could actually feel the snow when it touched her skin.

Luckily, a small part of her whispered, Misa had gotten a glimpse of the girl's face. Thanks to her shinigami eyes – the eyes that she'd given herself for Light, she now knew the girl's name.

_Kagome Higurashi. Who are you?_

Light's POV

When they reached the stairs that led up to the Higurashi-temple, Kagome told Light she was fine on her own. She hadn't spoken a single word during the way home, but now she looked at him and smiled. Light didn't know why, but he couldn't help but smile back.

He waited until she had climbed the stairs (wondering the whole time if she would fall when she ran like that), and when she was completely out of view, he continued his way home.

While he was walking, the warmth Kagome's smile had radiated left him. He grew angry.

_Why am I acting like this? Is she really affecting me this much? _

He gritted his teeth when he thought about it. He became more and more certain that she knew too much. And that made her a big threat to him. He needed to know more about her, what she knew exactly, and then decide how or when he could get rid of her.

He was deep in thought during the short way to his house. He sighed heavily and opened the door. A strong and welcoming scent reached him from the kitchen, signaling that his mother was cooking. He could hear that the TV was on in the livingroom. He reached down to undo his shoes and then saw his father stand before him.

"Dad! Ryuzaki gave you some time off, too?"

He didn't meet his father's eyes but pretended that he was too occupied with his shoelaces.

_Did L tell him to keep an eye on me?_

"Yes, but only until tomorrow, I'm afraid."

He smiled a tiredly. Light did his best to smile back, but found it was harder than with Kagome.

"I'll be back soon, too. It feels weird to be home so much."  
When he tried to pass Soichiro, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked back at his dad.

"Light, don't overextert yourself. You're still young, there will be plenty of time to work when you've finished school..."  
"Dad, I'm fine. You know that I can handle school", Light said in his most convincing way. "Besides, working with you on the task force, and working beside Ryuzaki is the best experience I can get."

Soichiro sighed but knew his son was right. He always made it sound simple to him, even though simple was the opposite of what it was.

"Yes, I know."

He patted Light on the shoulder. Light smiled again and went off to his room.

"One more thing, Light."

He stopped in the middle of the stairs, looking over at his shoulder.

"Yes, dad?"  
Soichiro looked in to the combined kitchen and livingroom. Light's mom was occupied with the food and Sayu could only hear the television.

"Ryuzaki wanted me to ask you something..."

_Why doesn't he ask me himself? _, Light thought.

"There's apparantely a girl you have been seeing a few times now. A girl that's not Amane." Of course he meant Kagome. And Light didn't know how or when Ryuzaki had found out that Light had met her – but he knew that this was bad. Very bad. And the fact that he had made his father question him about it made several times worse – it meant that even if he didn't take it seriously, yet, he still thought it was important enough to bring up. He knew that there was something with Kagome... something that just couldn't be ignored.

Light held his breath.

"What's this about, dad?" he asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. But in fact he had to give everything so that he wouldn't stutter.

"Oh, it's... Well, nothing really. Ryuzaki was just a bit curious. He wanted to know who she was and if... Well, if everything's allright between you and Amane. I don't think we have anything to do with it, but... You do know that if anything _should _happen... Amane is still needed to the Kira case, you understand that, right?"

Light swallowed. "Yes. Of course. But Ryuzaki's got it all wrong. That girl... Her name is... Higurashi. I haven't met her so many times, so I don't know her very well. She's... just a friend."

Soichiro nodded and looked away, obviously embarrassed. "Hrm. Well, okay. Then I know. I'll tell Ryuzaki. Or maybe you can tell him yourself. That he's got it wrong, I mean."

"Yeah. He's got it wrong." Light said. Soichiro went into the livingroom and disappeared from Light's view. "She doesn't mean anything special to me", he murmured to himself.

He paused just for a while before he retreated to his bedroom. As he locked the door behind him and sank down on his bed, he realized just how false those words were...

* * *

(A/N) It was fun to write Misa's POV, because it was much easier than other characters like Light for doesn't think as much as him,lol.

I've thought about the timelines of the two stories...In the Death Note timeline,this story takes place in 2004. Actually,the Higuchi-arc ends during October,but I ignore that so it takes place in December ^^ In 2004,Light is 18 years old.  
But in the InuYasha-story,Kagome remains 15 during the whole story (I think).Rumiko Takahashi isn't that accurate when it comes to passing time.(I mean,in Ranma ½ they celebrate Christmas like twice,and they're still 16 by the end of the story!).And the first InuYasha chapter takes place somewhen in spring 1996 - which would mean that by 2004,Kagome is 23 years old.  
Yeah,so it doesn't make much sense but this is a fanfiction,and I choose that Kagome's still around 15-16 in this ...

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	7. Weighing heavily

Here is a chapter of almost nine pages! :) I hope you enjoy it - it contains more of Misa's POV!^_^

For me,school starts next week which is a little nervous because it's a completely new school :S Well, hopefully it will work I'll continue writing,of course. Also, I spent the whole evening yesterday with watching the Death Note movies with my sister and my friend :) I really love Kenichi Matsuyama's portrayal of L.

Disclaimer: Sadly,I do not own anything from InuYasha or Death Note. All rights go to their creaters Rumiko Takahashi (InuYasha),Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata (Death Note).

* * *

**Chapter 7 Weighing heavily**

Light's POV

Light was dreaming that he was surrounded by darkness. His dreams weren't usually this vivid – but this time, the cold darkness seemed so real that it was a nightmare. When he looked before him, he could soon make out the shape of a person. It was hard to make out any features at first, but after a while, the shape came closer. She turned around and Light immediatelly recognized Kagome's face. She was looking directly at him, and just like the rest of his dream, she seemed very real. Just like he had seen her the day before. He recognized that expression as well. Her chocolate brown eyes were filled with sadness, she looked at him as if she felt betrayed. Light felt uneasy and even though he couldn't understand why, his heart was racing with worry. The girl shook her head and looked down. Then she looked over her shoulder as if she was trying to decide if she should leave or not. Light didn't want her to leave, but he couldn't tell her. As if she'd heard his thoughts, she looked back at him, and this time there was a faint smile on her face even though she still looked sad. That smile was like a ray of light in the darkness. But the image of Kagome became blurry, like a drop of water on a paper, smearing all features away. She disappeared and Light couldn't do anything about it. He didn't move at all, just stared and let it happen. But despite that, he felt disappointment when he was left alone in the darkness once again.

Soon, he finds himself surrounded by ghosts and all thoughts of Kagome vanish. He looks at the ghosts and realizes that they are shinigami. None of them resemble Ryuk or Rem, but Light can tell what they are. They have the same skeleton like features and just the feeling that radiates from them... It made him quite sure. But they were all much bigger than any shinigami he had ever seen, and the longer he looked at them, it seemed that they kept growing. The feeling of intimidation was already there but rose inside of him, and the fear was paralyzing. He couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't act at all.

Just when he thought he couldn't take any more – he woke up, sweaty and just as exhausted as if he had never fallen asleep in the first place.

Kagome's POV

The Kagome in the reflection was much too pale, had dark bags under her eyes and a frustrated expression. She looked away from the mirror, unable to stare at it for too long. She was angry at herself for letting herself fall and be taken care of again and again. She wasn't weak. She could take care of herself.

It was hard to remember what had happened the other night, but she could recall just a few glimpses. She remembered sitting on the train, meeting Light and that was pretty much it. Something about the news, a Kira debate, as well, but she wasn't sure. When she woke up from a feverish slumber later in the evening, she was lying in her bed, and her mother was sitting beside her and brought her tea.

Her mother had been surprised that her temperature had fallen so quickly, when it had been so high in the morning. She said that she couldn't understand why she would go out when she was so ill. That meant that when Kagome had been riding the train, she had gone out without her mother knowing so. She must have been very delirious.

Her mother had insisted that she stayed home from school for at least one day, to make sure the fever was completely gone. But today Kagome declared that she was healthy (at least physically) and wanted to go to school before InuYasha came and dragged her to the well.

She made herself ready, washing her face several times to get rid of the feeling of exhaustion.

It felt as if it had been an eternity since she last went to school. She didn't know, and didn't really _want _to know, how much she had missed, but hoped there was some way she could catch up. And certainly, for every class she attended, her mountain of homework kept growing until she almost decided that it was best to go back to the well and never return again.

After math class, she added even more books to her bag and sighed when she thought how heavy it would be at the end of the day. The classroom was soon empty of students, but Kagome sat still and stretched herself across her bench.

"I'm going to be fifty years old by the time I'm finished with my homework...", she mumbled.

She could hear how three people came close to her. One of them sat on the bench in front of her, and the two others pulled out chairs from either side.

"How have you been?", her friend Eri asked her. "What disease did you have this time?"

Kagome looked up and gave her a tired smile. She couldn't keep track of all the illnesses her grandfather came up with, but it was best to just play along.

"Nothing too serious this time... I had a fever a few days ago...", she answered and hoped that it would suffice.

"Seriously Kagome, I can't believe how you can put up with all those diseases. Are you really that unhealthy?" Yuka said, who was sitting on her left side and leaned her chin on her palm.

Kagome laughed nervously and waited for them to stop the questioning.

"Maybe you should go out with Hojo again, while you still can. So that he doesn't forget about you, I mean." This time it was Ayumi, sitting on her right side, who spoke.

Kagome smiled again but knew that she wouldn't go and see Hojo. Not today, not tomorrow – and hopefully not when she returned next time either. She did feel bad about her situation with him; she had promised to go out with him again and again, but she always had to come up with some excuse when InuYasha came and ordered her to return with him. She realized that he was very fond of her, and knew he had a big heart to still believe that they were together (or whatever he thought), but there were just too many reasons for why Kagome could not actually confirm it. The biggest reason was InuYasha and the Shikon jewel, of course, but also because she didn't have any feelings for him at all. And she never had. She didn't even know why she let her friends convince him that she had.

"You know what", she finally said, "I think it's best if I just take it easy as long as I can... So that I have strength for my studies, I mean."

Ayumi and Eri looked surprised and apparantely wanted to interject, but Yuka spoke before they got a chance to.

"You're right. There's bound to be like, a hundred tests soon and they will be very hard, I've heard..."

When her other two friends heard, they nodded in agreement. Seeing this only made Kagome feel worse and filled her with a feeling of hopelessness.

"I'd rather fight demons than this any day...", she mumbled.

As soon as the lessons were over for the day, Kagome was told to stay for an hour or two to receive some help with the things she had missed (as well as a test to make up for some of the other things). On one hand, it added to her stress, but she was also happy that her teacher was so willing to help in this matter. When she'd finished it, she felt as if a little of the weight of the homework was lifted from her shoulders. As if there was a small light at the end of the tunnel, and she felt more encouraged to keep on going.

She handed in her papers to the teacher, gathered her things and left the school grounds. The late afternoon sun shined beautifully, with a shade of gold. People passed her on her way, people that were on their way home just like her.

While she was walking, Kagome tried to go through everything she had to remember from school, and also planning how to go through the pile of work. This got her a bit distracted, so she almost walked right into Light.

"Oh, I'm so- Yagami-kun?"

She could see the surprise on his face, but he didn't look too happy. At first he glanced at the people that surrounded them as if he was afraid of something and Kagome couldn't help but feel that he wanted to leave. But he didn't. She recognized his polite side, but also the side of him that was hard to read. He wrapped his arms around himself to keep some warmth – he wasn't wearing a thick jacket.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked.

"Yes, thanks for asking.. It was a horrible fever, but I got rid of it", she said and smiled. "I'll try to be more careful from now on. It seems like the only thing you do is helping me."

At this, Light's mouth was pulled up into something that would resemble a smile. But it was only faint and his eyes darted away again. He was indeed distracted from something. Maybe now isn't the best time to talk, Kagome thought.

"Well, I better be on my way home...", she said politely.

She nodded, but before she got the chance to pass him, he lightly touched her arm. She stopped and he pulled away quickly again.

"I wanted to ask you something. When I found you, they were showing a reportage about the Kira case, and you mumbled..." He looked unsure whether to ask her or not, and his uncertainty seemed very unlike him. Kagome was curious but also a bit anxious.

"What did I say?"

It looked like he had changed his mind about something. "Oh, well... You said you thought that Kira was evil."

Kagome looked at him expectandly, waiting for him to continue. "Yeah?"

"And you mentioned the shinigami again."

_Oh. Great, not again._

"Is it about religion again?" he asked, with a smile on his face this time.

It took a while before she understood what he meant. Then she remembered when he had visited her in the hospital, and she had blamed the shinigami-thing on the temple.

"Oh... yeah. I guess. I _was _rather ill that day, after all...", she said and laughed nervously.

Light kept smiling but it didn't look as joyful now. He had that thoughtful look again.

"You do think Kira is evil", he stated.

"Yes, of course", Kagome said, a little confused now. "But I don't know, lately... I've thought about his actions, and I can't help but feel that he must be a very lonely person."

Light didn't say anything. He didn't look at her. Kagome wondered if he was upset, but the look on his face made her feel a bit uneasy. She opened her mouth to say something but interrupted herself.

"Well, bye...", she said quietly and passed him again.

Only this time her foot slipped on an icy patch and she lost her balance. She gasped as she fell to the ground, with her face down – but was quickly and gracefully caught by Light. She breathed out in relief.

He helped her get back to her feet, but in doing so they suddenly stood very closely, face to face. An awkward silence surrounded them.

Light finally released her and took half a step backwards.

"Thanks."

She quickly walked away.

Misa's POV

Once again, Misa stood alone and without an explanation to what she had just seen. Once again, her goal had been to see Light even if just for a short while. And like a deja vù, _that girl _was there again. They were even closer this time, but the atmosphere was different.

Misa was standing on the pavement opposite to where Light was standing, now alone, slightly hiding behind a tree.

When she first witnessed the scene, she'd frozen and was unable to move or react at all. When Kagome had left, it was like she finally had remembered how to breathe. But it was difficult and it was painful. Her breaths were shaking as if she was about to cry.

She saw how Light finally moved and soon went out of sight. He was on his way home. Misa wasn't going in that direction anymore. She shook her head and ran.

Light's POV

The last few weeks had all been the same. Light had gone to the investigation and spent most of the day there, but L never let him stay for longer than that. In short, he was never allowed to spend the night at the investigation anymore. Which was frustrating, to put it lightly. Not only did it interrupt his work, but he felt more and more isolated and unable to figure out what L was up to.

After passing the security controls, he was stopped almost immediatelly by Matsuda, who seemed a little out of breath as if he had been running to catch up with him.

"L wanted to tell you to go to the lobby. Misa's waiting for you there," he said, and added a quick wink before he rushed back.

Usually the upbeat detective would have stayed and talked with Light a little more, maybe ask him about his last date with Misa, but not this time. It did surprise Light, but he guessed it was because he was working with something at the moment… But knowing Matsuda, Light thought, he would probably spy at the couple on the surveillance cameras and wait expectantly for any hint of drama.

He did not know why Misa was there. He was frustrated that she would come and seek contact with him, even though he had made it clear to her to lay low. But maybe she had a good reason to come and see him. Well, there was only one way to find out.

He sighed and went left instead of right when he came to the end of the corridor (where left would lead him to the lobby and right to the headquarters where the detectives were working). He knew very well that every single move he and Misa made would be closely watched by them.

He reached the large, open room that was quite different from the rest of the building. While the rest were very isolated and secure – this room could remind anyone more of a hotel than a work place. More so, a work place for a police route searching for the world's most dangerous murderer. There were two small groups of sofas with a table in the center of each, and in a corner there was a counter with coffee equipment. There weren't any big windows though, and the four ones that sat on the walls were rather far apart from each other. But to make up for that, there were many lights that flooded the room.

Light made a quick note of where the cameras in the room were placed, so that he knew were they could stand and talk where no one could read their lips.

Misa was sitting on one the sofas but shot up instantly when her eyes fell on Light. Seeing her upbeat mood, he felt even more irritated with her.

He waited for her to approach him, before he hugged her and discretly moved aside with her in his arms so that they were standing with their backs turned towards the closest cameras. He knew that they still couldn't speak loud about anything Death Note-related, but as long as she stood close, they could whisper – if there was a need to speak about it, that was.

"Light…", Misa began but Light spoke before she got the chance to finish what every she was going to say.

"Make it quick, Misa. Why are you here?"

Misa's POV

The feeling of sadness melted away as if it never had existed the moment Light took her in his arms. She closed her eyes and inhaled his scent.

"Light…"

"Make it quick, Misa. Why are you here?" he asked.

She didn't hear the slightly angry tone. But she was able to put her overwhelming happiness aside and save it for later, and make her business quick so that her boyfriend wouldn't be disturbed.

Oh, right. Her business. The reason she came here.

She started with smiling at Light – a smile she hoped would encourage him and feel as good as she knew he did when he thought about his, _their_, goal. "You know… Misa was only thinking, that things have been going pretty well lately, haven't they?"

Light just looked at her without any change of emotion. Actually, this case was too complicated to be matched with the simple expression "going well", but there was no use in trying to explain that to her at this moment. "Maybe. Why?"

Misa gave him her cutest look, but she was a bit nervous about asking him this. She didn't want him to think that she was questioning him. "I was just wondering when we were going to continue the plan."

Light's instant reaction was looking around as if he feared that someone overheard her. "Keep your voice down", he said in something that could very easily be taken for a snap. But Misa didn't. She blamed herself for getting carried away with her emotions – the sadness of what she had witnessed earlier that day, and the joy of speaking to Light about their future. She put her head down as an apology.

Light put his hands on her shoulders and brought her even closer so that it would be harder for anyone to overhear what they were talking about.

"As I've said before; you'll have to wait until I give you further instructions. I have the perfect set up, but it's safer to wait until things have… progressed a bit more. It's to lead L's suspections further away from me", Light whispered very calmly. Calm and clear to make sure she took every word in. "You trust me, don't you, Misa?" he added. He knew his feigned vulnerability would affect her.

"Of course I do! No matter what, I always trust you!" Her voice sounded desperate.

But when she met his eyes, she remembered Kagome. She felt a knot in her stomache as she recalled how sad and betrayed she'd felt both moments when she'd seen him. She wouldn't have asked him, but right now, in this moment, she felt so very safe in his arms. So she gathered all her courage, partly blaming herself for doubting him at all, but she couldn't take _not knowing_.

She buried her face in his chest, as if it was going to protect her more.

"Light, can you tell me who Kagome Higurashi is?"

The moment she mentioned the name, she could feel how Light's whole body tensed. She knew immediatelly she shouldn't have asked him.

Light released her and took a step backwards so he could look at her properly. Misa slowly turned her head up so that her eyes met his. He was not quite angry yet, but he was definitely getting there.

"How do you know her?", he asked her suspisciously.

"I saw her. I saw you –". She hesitated. "I saw you talking to her." Light didn't answer instantly and this made Misa feel more uneasy. He was holding something back, there was something he wasn't telling her. "Are you close with her?", she asked very quietly.

He let out a very loud and very irritated sigh. Misa bit her lip.

"Why does everyone want to know about her?", he mumbled angrily. "She's no one important, okay?"

He opened his mouth to say something, but remembered where they were. So he stepped up in front of her again and whispered into her ear.

"I might have to kill her in the future. If someone ever asks you about her, you don't know her. _Is that clear_?"

She nodded slowly.

"Good." Light looked at the clock hanging on the wall behind them. "I'll go now. Was there anything else you wanted to ask?" He gave her a look that said he clearly thought she was a waste of time (but of course, Misa never noticed this).

She nodded again but this time, she gave him a bright smile.

"I'll go now, Light. We'll see each other again soon, right?"

She hugged him one last time and said good bye.

Kagome's POV

Kagome lifted her heavy, yellow backpack onto her back and got ready to leave. Her mother gave her a worried look when she saw her daughter's struggle.

"Are you sure you'll be all right?" she asked her for the hundreth time.

Kagome smiled as much as she could. "Of course I will. I just packed more of my homeworks this time. So I can catch up."

She said goodbye and hurried to the well. It was cold outside, but at least it was sunny – and feeling the faint warmth encouraged her a little.

Going back through the well after only being home for a few days was a routine for her now. She felt sad when she thought of how much more time she spent by putting her life in danger, than studying to make a good future for herself. But at the same time, she had gotten used to her second life, and it felt natural to be with InuYasha and the others. Sure, she would never really get comfortable with the life-threatening situations, but she felt less scared at those times than she did before. She just didn't know if it was good or bad.

She easily managed to jump over the edge of the old well and, without the slightest hesitation, let herself fall to the bottom – knowing that when she reached it, she would land softly. Because before she would hit the ground, she would be transferred through a cloud of mysterious purple fog, that would take her back in time.

While travelling, or rather said, falling, she thought that maybe she should apologise to the others because she had caused them so much trouble lately. She definitely wouldn't just direct the excuse to InuYasha, because he thought too much of himself already. But Miroku and Sango, she felt like she really owed it to them.

But it had been easier for her to not think about the hunt for jewel shards lately. Now that Justin was after her, and she knew he could be somewhere in her own time, she was concentrating a lot more on her life there. And it wasn't only Justin – it was Light, too. She hadn't met him many times yet, but he had saved her life more than once, and she felt... strangely connected to him. She couldn't put her finger on it, but there just was something about him...

Thinking about Light, she remembered what had happened between them earlier that day. She remembered falling into his arms and being just a few inches away from his face. And the look he had given her when she met his eyes. She'd felt a knot in her stomache when she saw it, but couldn't understand why – and even know, she had a puzzling feeling when she thought about it.

She landed swiftly on the earthen floor that was the bottom of the ancient well, that was actually not so ancient on this side. She got up and briefly brushed the dirt away from her knees. With a slight effort, she somehow managed to climb the ivy that let to the edge of the well, even with the heavy backpack clogging her.

She lifted herself up over the edge and breathed out when her feet fell down to the soft grass. In the same moment she let her backpack fall to the ground, she could feel the cold aura behind her.

She gasped and spun around. She had to hold back a scream when she saw Justin's intimidating figure sitting on the opposite edge of the well, grinning at her.

"Long time, no see", he chuckled.

Kagome couldn't speak. She felt the beads of sweat immediatelly forming on her forehead and her palms, and she backed away.

What was she going to do? Run? Fight? She knew both of the actions would be useless. Even if she ran, he would easily catch up with her, and she couldn't fight him if she didn't know what could wound him. Maybe she could try to quickly jump down the well again? But he could still find her on the other side if he wanted to...

Justin didn't make a move. It felt like an eternity had passed when Kagome heard the sound of InuYasha's shout from somewhere deep in the forest behind her. She couldn't make out any words, but he was soon standing in front of her with Tessaiga pointed at the shinigami.

"Found you, you moony skeleton!"

Appearantely, Justin founds this hilarious. "Oh?" he said, after chuckling a bit more. "I didn't know that you had actively been searching for me?"

InuYasha growled. "What is it that you want anyways?" he asked coldly.

Kagome was actually wondering the same thing. The first time they heard him speak, he had told Kagome that he wanted to consume her lifespan. But they weren't sure what that meant – did it mean the she would die, or was it some sort of code for something else? With demons, one could never be sure. And the death gods were a complete different story – seeing as they probably had much more experience and were much more wiser than humans.

"What I want? I've already told you that, have you forgotten?", Justin said and shook his head as if to give a dramatic effect. "Shinigami feed on the lifespan of humans. That is how we extend our own lives. So, it is as simple as that. I'm after the lifespan of you, Kagome Higurashi."

Kagome shuddered when he said her name. His voice was dark and always seemed oddly amused whenever he spoke.

She could easily tell that InuYasha wasn't satisfied with that answer. He gave out a battle shout and leaped towards the shinigami with Tessaiga raised above his head. But Justin easily avoided the blow and flew far, far away from the spot where InuYasha hit the ground. She couldn't see his face, but judging by the half-demon's posture, he was almost blinded by rage.

Justin laughed as if he had just witnessed something very funny. With spreaded wings, he sank down to the ground slowly. When he finally landed, he sank down into a sitting pose, crouching with his arms resting on his knees. His jewel eyes turned to Kagome, and she could feel them penetrating her even from where she stood. When he spoke again, she could hear him as clear as if he had been standing right next to her.

"You see," he began, with the same tone as if he was intiating an important history lesson, "death gods have always existed, as long as life has existed. There is no real time change in our realm, which I take you already know. So you should know that there are just as many of us in your time as there is in this one."

"Our real job is to watch over the humans and then take the lives of them to continue living ourselves. Nowadays, though, many of us thinks that is too much work and very unncecessary. The most lazy ones only kill when they absolutely have to." He muttered something before he continued. "But sometimes, there are shinigami who actually enter the world of the living, as I have done now. Maybe to follow a human they have their eyes on. Or, it could be because they're... _attached_ to one."

The way he said 'attached' made Kagome furrow her eyebrows in confusion. Justin grinned at their ignorance.

"As is the case with a certain murderer."  
This got Kagome's attention. She widened her eyes when she, once again, made the connection between Kira and shinigamis. Justin appearantely already knew that she had made that connection, because the grin he was giving her was very clear about what it was conveying. But obviously, InuYasha didn't understand, and he didn't want to understand either.

He let out a frustrated groan. "You're talking a lot of shit!" he screamed as he swinged his sword one more time. Justin avoided it as if it was nothing. "I didn't ask for that damn lecture! Tell me why you're after Kagome!"

Justin was clearly very uninterested in InuYasha at the moment. Before answering, his eyes drifted to her again.

"_That"_, Justin began, sounding as if forced to state the obvious, "is because someone with a rank as high as mine, will only want the very best quality... no?"

"What do you mean, 'high quality'?" Kagome asked quietly. She half-expected him not to hear her, but he did.

"What I mean, is that your soul is the kind that has only shown up maybe once or twice since the birth of this planet." Now, he spoke as if he was describing a very rare and expensive article. "I can see that from your lifespan. Behind the numbers that describe how long you have to live, there are shadows of someone else's lifespan. It's blurry and could be hard to tell which are yours and which belongs to the shadow – for a low ranked shinigami, that is. I can easily tell."

"I don't understand", Kagome murmured, though she had a slight hunch.

"Would it be easier if I say that it gets much harder to tell the numbers apart when you're on this side of the well?"

_Kikyou._

Justin grinned again, seeing how the apprehension was displayed over her face. When Kagome glanced at InuYasha, who hadn't changed position – still with his back turned against her, she could tell that he understood as well. He was confused at the very least.

"Does that mean that consuming my lifespan makes you stronger than someone else's would?" She could hardly believe that she actually said that.

"Right you are", Justin said amusedly.

Kagome's mouth felt dry and she felt she couldn't speak more. Maybe it was the presence of Justin, maybe it was the new information being progressed inside her, or maybe it was both – but she was feeling the nausea growing stronger by the second.

When neither Kagome nor InuYasha spoke, Justin laughed again. "Don't worry. I'm not about to kill you. Yet."

Kagome dared look at him again.

_Why not?_

But she didn't get any explanation. She didn't even understand why he had come down to see her in the first place, if not to kill her – or harm her at the very least.

He flipped his wings again and rose to the sky. InuYasha and Kagome watched him disappear amongst the clouds, his bat-wings the last thing they could see of him.

After that, a moment of heavy silence laid itself upon the area. Kagome looked down, feeling the nausea disappearing, but the unease lingered. She heard how InuYasha let Tessaiga turn back into its regular, rusty and thin shape and put it back into the sheath. He paused for a moment and then approached her. When he was just a few feet away, he stopped again and she could feel how he looked at her. She looked back.

There was a hint of sadness displayed upon his face, but mostly the soft and concerned face Kagome only rarely could catch a glimpse of. She could never help but partly appreciate the moments when he let his guard down in front of her and showed some emotions, but whenever in times like this – there wasn't much to be happy about.

"I promise I'm going to protect you, Kagome. No matter what", he said. "He's not going to reach you."

With those words, he turned around and headed back to the path that lead to the village. He expected Kagome to follow, which she did eventually, after catching a deep breath.

Added to the list of things that weighed her down, was the realization that the half-demons words weren't warming her in the way that they used to.

* * *

(A/N) I enjoy writing from Kagome's POV more than I enjoy Light's, which you can probably tell. I can relate easier to a 15-16 year old school girl than an 18-year old mastermind/murderer. But writing Light can also be funny, of course ^^'

Stay tuned for the next chapter - and don't forget to review!:)


	8. I need some sleep

Okay, this was a pretty fast update - for me xD But it's also kinda short :(  
The title comes from the song with the same name by Eels, a very good the end of the chapter I'll explain why I chose it,so I don't give anything away.

And,uhm...That's all for this time!Read and enjoy,and of course,don't forget to review!

Disclaimer:Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.I own nothing.

* * *

**Chapter 8 I need some sleep**

Five weeks later

Light's POV

Filled with frustrations directed at L, Light walked quickly through town. He had been ordered to go home. _Again. _This time, he had tried to refuse because he thought that detective's behaviour was ridiculous, but he just pretended that he didn't understand. He didn't even look at Light when he told him to go home. Light almost had a tantrum, right there, but immediatelly stopped himself when he noticed the looks from his father. Soichiro was obviously worried about Light's health and education. Or safety. So he had no choice but to obey.

He grittered his teeth when he thought about his situation. In many ways, he could make the people in the investigation to do exactly what he wanted them to, but in the end, he could never go too far from the student-part of his life. If he appeared too eager to be at the investigation, it would seem suspiscious.

He was pulled out from his thoughts when he passed a par of gigantic stone stairs, almost instinctively. He knew it was the stairs that led to the Higurashi-temple, and he stopped to look up at them. He could only glimpse the roof of the temple, but not more. Now that he thought about it, he had never actually been on the temple grounds.

Thinking about it, it _had _been a while since he saw Kagome. Not since...

The memory of Kagome falling into his arms flashed before his eyes. He shook his head. It was good if she stayed out of his way. She was nothing but trouble and headaches to him anyway. Heck, he didn't even know why he kept running into her – why he even acknowledged her. She was nothing but distraction.

His mind was set on going home, but before he knew it, his legs were steering towards the stairs. Why, he didn't know, but he didn't turn back and continued to climb the stairs. The other part of him still hoped he didn't see Kagome there...

But it only took one look at the courtyard to see that there was no one there. He climbed the last steps and stopped to examine his surroundings more closely. Directly in front of him was the main building, built very traditionally according to a traditional shinto shrine. To his left side was the house in which he guessed the Higurashi family lived, and he only gave it a quick glance before looking away again – maybe dreading that he would see someone. So he turned to look at his right and saw another, smaller building.

Unlike the others, this little shed was obviously rarely used. He guessed it was some sort of stock-room, but didn't pay it much attention. The area was rather relaxing.

Light looked around for a bit until his eyes fell on a large tree. It was obvious that the tree was part of the temple, because of the rope hanging around its stem, and it did look ancient. Light stepped closer to it and looked up to the crown of the magnificent tree. The leaves were constantly moving even though there was close to no wind. Just in front of him, there was a big space om the stem where the bark was missing. Perhaps it wasn't very odd, because of the high age of the tree, but Light couldn't help but think that the outlines were a little too specific – and it wasn't missing in any other places.

He heard approaching voices and looked to the stone stair case. Soon, an old man and a middle-aged woman were visible. The man was dressed in a hakama, so Light guessed he worked in the temple. Maybe the woman did as well. She was carrying to plastic bags, and a small handbag hanging over her shoulder. They were discussing something when they arrived at the top of the stairs, but fell silent when they saw Light. When the woman turned to look at him, he could see a clear resemblance of Kagome in her eyes and expressions.

"Hello", she said kindly. "Are you here to visit the temple?"

"Um, not really", Light said. "I was just leaving."

"Are you a friend of Kagome's?" the woman asked.

"I guess you could call me that." He smiled lightly, hoping she wouldn't insist that he met her. "Just wondering how she was doing."

The woman had just a slightly troubled look on her face, and took a few steps closer. "I'm afraid that Kagome is not feeling very well. I don't think she can take any visitors today."  
Light furrowed his eyebrows. "She's sick? Is it serious?"

"No, no. Not at all. She's a strong girl, but she gets ill from time to time and has to stay home from school. She'll be better in no time. Shall I tell her that you came to see her?"

He shook his head and smiled politely. "No need. I hope she gets better soon."

They bowed politely and the woman turned to the opposite direction – to the Higurashi residence. Light then noticed that the old man hadn't moved one bit. He was eyeing him a bit suspisciously, but not so much that he would feel threatened.

Light pretended that he didn't notice and resumed examining the sacred tree. The old man walked slowly to his side, but without saying anything. They stood side by side for a while, both of them gazing up at the tree's crown as if they were waiting for something to happen.

"You know, my boy", the old man said finally. "This tree is very special. It has a legend."

"Really?" Light asked, pretending to be interested.

"That's right. It's said that once, a half-demon was sealed to this tree by a priestess. He had stolen a very precious jewel from her, and when she finally caught up with him, she was already dying. The last thing she did was reclaiming the jewel and asked to have it burned with her." He paused. "Many thought it was a pity, because this jewel could give the bearer tremendous power and it was said that it could grant a wish. But the priestess was very wise, for she could see that creatures with evil in their hearts would seek the jewel, and so she decided that it was best if it was destroyed."

"Hm."

"Yes, it was probably corrupted already." The old man sighed.

Light thought that the old man kept talking, but he didn't listen. He thought it just seemed ridiculous, and as soon as the old man paused again, he excused himself and left the area.

_Things are going slow whenever I'm away from the investigation. I just hope Ryuk can find Justin soon, so I can talk to him._

Ryuk's POV

It was only later that day that Ryuk flew over the Higurashi temple and noticed a familiar figure sitting atop the roof of the temple. He looked out of place, Ryuk thought, because he was used to seeing Justin sitting on his throne or standing – so he could show that he was more superior to everyone else.

He sweeped down to the building. Justin noticed his presence almost instantly, and his jewel-eyes gave him the usual cold and condescending look. He got to his feet so that he would be lower in height.

"Ryuk", he said flatly.

"Doesn't seem like you have much to do", Ryuk commented without bothering to acknowledge him.

Justin looked towards a large tree standing directly in front of the building they were now standing on.

"Unlike others, I have patience. I'm waiting."

Ryuk raised his hands in confusion. "Waiting for what? Weren't you going to kill that girl?"

"It seems you don't understand, and I see no need to explain it to you either", Justin said coldly. "But you don't have to worry, Ryuk. If it's a show you're waiting for, I'll give you one. You just have to wait a bit longer."

Ryuk chuckled, sensing that the other shinigami was indeed planning something that would amuse him. He did need a little more entertainment nowadays.

Even more so if it came to Light's attention or stood in the way of his plans.

Misa's POV

Misa sat on her bed and watched the sun sink outside her window. She had opened the windows when she came home and then not closed them after a few hours. So now the apartement was filled with freezing air, sweeping across her bare shoulders. But she didn't care. She was lost in thought and feelings, so she didn't care whether she was freezing or not. The darker the room got, as the sunk sunk lower and lower, the feeling of loneliness grew stronger. She didn't usually feel it, she actually enjoyed being alone from time to time. But...

She thought about her meeting with Light. Why did he get so defensive when she mentioned Kagome? There was definitely something going on between them, but she didn't know what yet. She doubted that there was anything romantic, at least from Light's side... He had promised to love _her, _right? And he wouldn't break a promise like that.

She was filled with anger when she thought of that girl. She must be manipulating Light. He did say that he probably would have to kill her.

Misa gasped and stared wide-eyed into her reflected self in the window.

That's it! Kagome Higurashi was a threat to Kira's plans. She didn't know exactly how, but L was also suspiscious of who she was, wasn't he? And Light said that he might have to kill her. Then it must mean that having her out of the way would be a good thing, right?

Misa's heart pounded as she with trembling hands searched for her bag.

Kagome's POV

Kagome was packing her things into her yellow backpack. Her homework was, sadly, in the bottom of it since it had rarely been used during her stay. She had managed to finish at least a few assignments, but there was still a lot to catch up on.

She packed the First-aid kit last. She always brought it back with her so that it could be refilled with bandage, antidotes and pain-killers. Though there was also a small stack of the most convenient and necessary supplies left in Kaede's hut, in case something happened when Kagome was gone.

She and Sango were alone in the hut at the moment. Kaede was out and picking herbs on the fields, while Miroku and InuYasha were out in the village. They guessed that Shippo was with Kaede as well. Kirara was lying in Sango's lap and purred contently.

"I feel so sorry for you, Kagome-chan, when I see how much pressure you have on you", Sango said as she watched her friend's desperate attempts to close the backpack.

Kagome laughed nervously. "I always manage somehow."

Once again, they hadn't found any clues to where neither Naraku nor Justin would be. They had visited the temples they passed during their journey, to see if they could learn anything new about the death gods, but there was no luck there either. Mostly legends and scared monks that warned them about searching for the shinigamis.

At one time they had heard a rumor about a demon possessing a shard of the Shikon jewel, but it turned out to be false.

The lack of progress obviously meant that InuYasha's mood got worse and worse for each time they passed a village or defeated a demon that had nothing to do with their mission. During their way back to Kaede's village, he remained quiet most of the time and had a horribly cold glare, so Kagome decided that it was best if she travelled with Sango on Kirara.

The frustration she felt when she thought about the stubborn half-demon made her adrenaline rise and she finally managed to close the overfilled bag. She gave out a triumphant cheer in the same moment that InuYasha and Miroku entered the hut.

"Why are you packing?" InuYasha demanded instantly when his eyes fell on the bag.

Kagome sighed and glared at him over her shoulder. "Because I am going home." She gave him a challenging look.

"What, _again?_" he snarled.

"InuYasha, it's been _five weeks_! And I have stuff I need to do!" She got up on her feet and tried to throw the bag over her shoulder in a carefree way, but miserably failed when it weighed her down to the floor.

"InuYasha, it's not that big of a deal if she goes back now for a few days", Sango said. "We're not going to move again for a while, and we don't really have any clues to where Naraku or Justin could be..."

The half-demon shot the demon slayer a vicious look, but as usual when InuYasha mocked her, she managed to keep a straight face.

He turned back to Kagome.

"Maybe you haven't realized it yet, but finding Naraku and Justin is about life and death! Do you _want_ Naraku to absorb the Shikon jewel? Do you _want_ Justin to kill you or innocent people?" he snarled.

"InuYasha, don't be stupid", she sighed.

"_You're_ stupid!"

"Sit!"

She wasn't easily hurt, but today, he really got on her nerves. And she was tired of him being so overprotective and throwing tantrums whenever she wanted to go home.

Their companions watched wearily and with slight amusement when InuYasha crashed down to the wooden floor with his face down. As usual, he looked up at Kagome with resentment in his eyes before he moved any other part of his body.

But this time, he didn't say anything. He watched for a long time to see if she would move or do anything. She watched him as well, with disappointment.

"Bye, Miroku and Sango", she said and swept past InuYasha without saying anything to him.

She marched through the village, boiling with anger. She met a confused Kaede on the way, carrying a basket of herbs. Shippo came bouncing after her, but when he saw the look on Kagome's face, he knew it was best not to ask her where she was going.

She muttered and grumbled all the way to the well. She thought to herself that _this time_, she would stay for _at least_ on week. And when she came back, it would be for the others and certainly not InuYasha.

He was so stubborn, it seemed like he didn't even _try_ to understand her.

Just a few feet away from the well, she suddenly felt an overwhelming pain in her chest. She fell down to the ground, clutching her chest and lost her breath. She struggled to keep breathing, but the pain was too unbearable, making everything seem too hopeless.

* * *

(A/N) The ending was written kinda fast,I hope it doesn't bother you too much o_o

Like I said before,the title comes from a song.I chose it even though it doesn't really have anything to do with the contents of the chapter...Usually when I choose the titles,I think of a word or expression that can describe what it's the other chapters,I think most of the pieces of texts and points of views can have different themes or some kind of connection,but this chapter was a little scattered in that way.  
Then I looked through the playlist I keep for this fanfiction,with songs I think of when I think of this story,and I saw the song 'I need some sleep'.I think the expression fits a little with how tired Light must be,how sad and devastated Misa is and at the end,when Kagome breaks down and...*cough* Well,I think you all know what happened xD  
So,if anyone thought it was interesting,there you go.

And please don't hate me for leaving it at such a cliffhanger xD

Please,please,pleaaaaaase review!*puppy eyes*


	9. Inaccessible

(A/N) Hello again!  
I don't have much to say about this chapter more than it didn't take as long as I thought it would to write it. And that's a good thing ;) I really hope I'll find the time to write now that school's started again...  
There's also a lot of Light's POV in this chapter,yaaay!(?)

Read and enjoy, don't forget to review!3 I love your reviews,seriously!

Disclaimer: Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. InuYasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.I own nothing :(

* * *

**Chap****ter 9 Inaccessible**

Light's POV

_That's unusual._

Light dialed Misa's number, but she never picked up. It rang and rang, but no answer. That was very strange. She always answered her phone whenever she saw an incoming call from him, except for the times when she had to turn the cellphone off. He sighed when it connected to voice mail.

"Misa, I need you to come to my house tonight, as soon as you can. Don't call me back, just come."

He put the cellphone back into his pocket and spun around in the desk chair. Ryuk was lying comfortably on his bed, supporting his head on his hand, with a red apple in his hand.

"Are you sure she'll get the message?" he asked and took another big bite of the fruit.  
"She will", Light answered without any further explanation. He stared at the wall in front of him and crossed his legs. "And you're sure that Justin will show up?"

The shinigami finished the apple by swallowing it whole, including the core. "Absolutely sure. He's probably already in the area."

Light looked forward to meeting Justin. He seemed like a much more intelligent shinigami than both Ryuk and Rem. He could perhaps provide him with more information concerning the Death Note, if there was anything more to know.

But on the other hand, if it turned out that Justin's plans were in the way...

He didn't know what, or if there was anything, that he could do if that was the case, but it was better to make sure first. Of course, he had come up with a few plans in case the worst should happen, but they were far from perfect.

Though, Ryuk had said earlier that the human Justin was after was no one Light knew and wasn't connected to him.

Well, better talk to him first.

Around 8pm, a shadow loomed over Light where he was sitting in front of his desk. He looked up and saw the skeleton shape he immediately took for Justin. He grinned and took a deep breath as he got up. His first thought was that he should open the window, but soon remembered that it was unnecessary when the shinigami casually passed through the glass.

His appearence was both similar and different from Ryuk's. First of all, he was taller. Many of the features that would make Ryuk look more human, made Justin look less so. No matter how you saw him, he was a skeleton with golden bones, decorated with jewels and diamonds. What caught Light's attention, however, was his eyes. They, too, were jewels and almost appeared as if they were shining. It gave him the impression that he could see right through him.

His mouth was just like the one on a skull, in other words, missing lips and exposing his row of teeth. Though, just like Ryuk, his mouth lookd like it was constantly grinning.

They eyed each other, neither of them spoke. Light guessed that Justin was surprised that a human like him wasn't even the least intimidated by him.

"How come I can see you without touching your Death Note?" Light asked. He spoke clearly and strongly, in a way that should show to Justin even more, that he wasn't affected by him.

"Because I let you", Justin answered simply.

Light shot Ryuk a quick glare – annoyed that he hadn't been informed that this was possible earlier. Never mind, nothing had happened yet.

"You don't look like someone who would be the cause of such a commotion...", the shinigami said, chuckling. "Then again, all humans look equallys scrawny and helpless to me."

Light ignored those words and gave him a cold and measuring look instead.

_This shinigami appears to have very high thoughts of himself._

Though he could partly understand Justin's thoughts. Up until now, Light had had the impression that all death gods had been rather clueless and unable to come up with a great scheme on their own... Justin, however, was not like that.

"You wanted to speak with me about this human I'm after, correct?"

"Yes. I just need to make sure that you don't do anything that would be in my way."

Justin stared at him amusedly. "Human, I have no obligation do to what you say. And I don't have any reason to keep from doing things that would be in your way..."

"I know", Light said, with a more demanding tone now. "But as long as I know what it is your up to..."

"I understand." The shinigami was beginning to look bored. Maybe he had expected Light to be something more. "But I'll say it again – even if my plans are in your way..."

"Then you won't do anything to change them, I got it."

Of course he wouldn't go out of his way just to cause less trouble to a human, but as long as he _knew_... It would make it easier to prepare, in case something happened.

"If the person I was after was someone you knew – would you care?" Justin asked.

Light looked up, and met the shinigami's cold, jewel eyes. It only took seconds for him to figure out that he was actually serious, and this was not just a question out of curiosity. The person Justin was after was, very likely, someone Light knew.

_Trouble._

"It doesn't matter if I care or not. I mean, if it is a family member then it's obvious..."

"And if I kill the person with a heart attack?"

"That would make it worse, it would look a lot more suspiscious. But if Kira would have no reason to kill that person –"

Light was interrupted when Justin began laughing.

"I see your way of thinking. But to me, it looks as if you have lost a great deal."

Neither of them commented. The tension between them was building up – especially from the student's side. Was he being tested? Or just toyed with?

"Nowadays, a shinigami like me has a hard time finding pleasure in just... killing. For someone who has lived as long as me, and will live so much longer, a normal human's lifespan seems so short. So I was very pleased when I found this particular human girl."

_A girl? Who is it? Misa? Sayu?_

Light clenched his jaw.

"It is a bit ironic that it was someone who would cross your path, Light Yagami. Very ironic..."

"Who is it?" Light demanded, trying not to sound as annoyed as he felt.

Justin must have sensed it anyway, because he gave him a very amused look. "It's a girl called Kagome Higurashi."

Silence spread through the room. He could feel that both of the death gods watched him with amusement, but frankly, he didn't give a damn. He never had, and never would, care what a shinigami thought about him.

He tried to get his mind working. If Kagome was killed, would it cause trouble? No, it probably wouldn't... He had contemplated killing her himself, but there hadn't been a need for it. But L knew about her, if only a little. He knew that she had met Light at least once. If she died by a heartattack, then that would instantly be connected to the Death Note and to Kira, and that would be bad...

But if she died by some other cause... No, he didn't think Justin would change cause of death just to make things easier for Light.

"All right, then I know", he said, trying to remain calm. "Have you a Death Note to a human?"

"No, I would never do such a thing. It's useless." Justin gave Ryuk a condescending look.

"Right". He nodded. "Then I would-"

He was interrupted by the sound of his mother calling from downstairs.

"Light, dear! Misa-san is here!"

"She sure took her time...", he muttered.

Justin shook his head and threw out his arms, expressing his annoyance in being interrupted. He backed away, keeping eye contact with Light.

"If you feel the need, we can talk more another time."

He passed through the wall. Light and Ryuk watched him flip out his wings and left the balcony.

Light sighed and made his way to the hallway, where he found Misa. His mother, who had been keeping her company until Light arrived, smiled at him, and excused herself before she returned to the kitchen.

He knew instantly that something was wrong when he saw her. It should have been enough warning, earlier that day, when she didn't answer his phonecall.

When he approached her, she didn't even acknowledge him. Normally, she would have thrown her arms around his neck. She stood with her head down, shoulders lifted as if to protect herself. She held her bag tightly in front of her, her fingers clutched the straps so tightly that her fingers became white.

Light felt the familliar knot in his stomache when he was sensing trouble.

"Misa?" he said, not worriedly, but rather warningly.

When she finally looked at him, he could see that she had tears in her eyes. Though she couldn't really focus her eyes on him, it was as if she was too ashamed.

"Come here".

He gripped her harm and pulled her with him up the stairs leading to his room. He slammed the door shut, which probably made his family wonder what was going on.

After he had locked the door, and led Misa so that she would sit down on the bed, he stood in front of her with his arms crossed and hoped that she hadn't screwed up too bad.

"What happened?"

She sniffled. She looked very small, dressed in that heavy winterjacket – which she hadn't had a chance to take off. After a moment, she reached for her bag with trembling hands. Light watched her very closely.

When he saw what she was pulling out of the bag, a black notebook, he was on the verge of swearing. But instead, he just closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Misa held her Death Note in her hands. Light already understood that she probably had killed someone she shouldn't have... But who?

It was hard for her to flip through the pages, because she was trembling so much, but finally she managed to get to the most recently used page.

One name, at the top of the white blank page, and Light swore.

_Kagome Higurashi._

Kagome's POV

It was dark and Kagome was freezing. Freezing like she had never before. It was a different kind of cold, one that did not only reach her skin but also felt like it penetrated the insides of her body. Her organs, it even reached her heart. It was unbearable.

Through the pain she was aware that she was lying at the bottom of a lake. It was almost too dark for a lake, so maybe an ocean? But she could see something moving above the surface, though she couldn't be sure what it was. Dark shapes, that awoke just a hunch of recognition.

One of the shadows moved closer, and the blurry lines got straightened out. Kagome could see it clearly now, and she recognized the shadow. It was a shinigami.

But what was he doing there? The world on the other side of the surface didn't resemble the Earth very much. Could this be the shinigami realm? The death god wasn't alone. Behind him was a gathering of familliar shapes, skeleton-like with tattered wings and strange decorations covering their bodies.

_If I can see the shinigami's realm, then that must really mean I'm dead. _

Yes, Kagome was sad and she was scared. Even after going through so much, after surviving so many things, she died just that easily. Wasn't it ironic?

Her mind was gradually becoming more numb, and some of her thoughts wouldn't develop. She could feel things, but the feelings wouldn't overwhelm her and they wouldn't bring out any reactions in her.

Though one emotion was stronger than the others, and that was panic. Her other thoughts and sensations were pushed away when they got to close, but 'panic' kept coming back.

Kagome didn't want to die, but there was nothing she could do to prevent it from happening. She could even feel her life leaving her – it was like a warm blanket being pulled away from you very, very slowly. She could just lie there, motionless, at the bottom of the dark and cold lake. She was wondering if this was it – was there nothing more to the afterlife? Should she expect feeling nothing more than cold and anguish for the rest of eternity? Religion was really misguiding, if that was the case.

She was pulled from her distraction and became aware of an approaching sound, the sound of pattering feet. It reminded her a little of when a cockroach moves, though the steps of these creatures were heavier and they seemed to be pulling chains after them. They were coming for _her._

She attempted to open her eyes (which was easier than she would have thought, since she was at the bottom of a lake), and watched the creatures approach her. Sure, it was rather hard to make out any details, but she could see what they were. Luckily, she hadn't had much experience with them, but she knew enough of them to know what they were, and what they wanted. They were gakis, demons or spirits from the other side who deliever a dying person to the other side.

Could she break free from them? Was it even worth trying? Could she move at all?

The gakis, who resembled a cross between toads and devil with shining yellow eyes, carefully put their heavy chains over Kagome's body.

She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to block out everything from her surroundings. The sound of the rattling chains, the wheezing gakis, the cold, the pain and the panic.

And then it ceased to sound.

The presence of the gakis was blown away, blurred out into the dark water like paint. For a brief moment everything was just quiet, but before Kagome could feel even the tiniest relief, she was shocked by two cold hands touching her.

The hands were rough and didn't even try to treat her gently. But they pulled her away from the lake and the cold. Kagome could feel how the warmth gradually seeped into her flesh and mind and when she opened her eyes – her eyes met the daylight.

Never before had she been so happy to be alive.

She let out a sigh of relief, a breath she appearantly had been holding back, and tried to sit up. She could see the sky. She could feel the grass beneath her. When she glanced at her sides, she saw a forest.

It didn't take long for her to remember where she had been before she had 'fallen into the lake'. She'd been by the well, had she not? And this was the same place, so she hadn't moved, but...

A pair of deep, intense brown eyes stared at her. Kagome looked at the beautiful woman sitting at her side, and asked herself why she was surprised when she saw it was Kikyo.

"You...", was all she could manage to say.

"It's needless to say that I managed to save you from death. I guess it's good to see that we share the same will to come back."

As usual, her voice was stern, and her face showed no sign of joy. Well, she behaved like this only when she spoke to Kagome.

"I-I don't understand", Kagome stuttered. "How…? Why?"

"There are many reasons why. If it had been a different situation, I wouldn't have done anything, but the state you were in and the cause of your fall was... unnatural, even for our time. And, I thought it would be ridiculous if you passed away so easily, when you have managed to stay alive through so many other scenarios."

Kagome pretended not to hear the intended insult. She was happy that Kikyo had saved her. She knew very well that she was lucky that the priestess had decided to not act on her feelings this time.

And, she could sense that they both thought this, this might even be the repayment for when Kagome last saved Kikyo's... well, 'life'.

"I'll tell you this, though", Kikyo said after a minute of silence. "You were on the verge of moving on when I found you. It would not have been so easy for me to save you, if the thing that attempted to kill you was nearby. I'm guessing it comes from your own time."  
"You mean on the other side of the well?" Kagome breathed, barely able to believe it. She didn't even know it was possible.

Kikyo nodded.

"I managed to prevent it, but it was a very close call. You'll be weak for a while..."

"Yes, I understand. Thank you very much, Kikyo. I really-"  
"Spare your gratitude. You know you would have done the same for me."

And there it was – repayment, after all.  
"But... ", she added. "Don't expect me to keep saving your life. You and I owe each other nothing."

Kagome let out a sigh that she didn't even know she had been holding back. She needed to go home to her own time again, she realized. . Now that she knew that the shinigamis were involved with the murders Kira was committing. She didn't know what she could do, but there had to be something. Since his powers were unnatural, no normal person would be able to handle him. There had to be something she could do to help, and in doing so prevent more people from dying.

"I can see clearly that a shinigami has set his eyes on you", Kikyo said.

Kagome was awakened from her thoughts and gave the priestess a puzzled expression.

"How did you know that?"

"You know about the aura that all living creatures radiates. I doubt you can sense many of them, but you can probably sense the demonic auras, correct?" She didn't wait for an answer but continued. "It is very similar. But a shinigami's aura is like a mixture between a very weak demon and a very strong dark priestess or a monk. Only their power is different, and probably stronger."  
Kagome nodded to show that she followed. Maybe, just maybe, Kagome could feel the auras of shinigami? She thought about it. Whenever Justin was near, she felt that nausea. And there was another feeling, a weaker one, that she felt as well. It was harder to describe.

But when she gave it thought, she realized that she hadn't only felt it when she was near Justin. Sometimes it had hit her when she was with Light, but that – no. It had to be a mistake, then. Because there was no way those two could be connected, right?

She mustered up some courage and decided to ask Kikyo before she left.

"Is it possible for a human to radiate the same kind of aura as a shinigami?"

"No."

_Oh, of course. I was mistaken, then._

"But there are some people who choose to keep the company of shinigami."

"What? Why would anyone want that?"

Kikyo looked as if she thought that Kagome was a little slow-minded, or just simply untaught.

"Maybe you would be surprised to know how many humans there are who would give almost anything to be in control of death."

She stood up and they gave each other a long-lasting look. It was only in her eyes that Kagome could find resemblance with herself, but was harder to notice it when the priestess used those cold glares.

She watched as Kikyo retreated into the woods. Dressed in her hakama, her bow hanging over her shoulder together with a quiver, and her long black hair, gathered into a ponytail, dancing behind her - she melted into the shadows of the trees.

When she was alone again, Kagome thought about what Kikyo had said.

She definitely needed someone to help her concerning what she had learned about Kira. But who was there to turn to?

As if out of nowhere, the memory of a face flashed before her eyes. The pale face, with dark and lifeless eyes, and untidy black hair.

Light's POV

Light had to fight the urge to punch Misa. He clenched his fist and felt the anger build up inside of him when he saw the name that she had written. But he managed to push the urge away. Still, he was almost paralyzed with rage.

Misa watched him with fear.

"Go. I'll talk to you later", he said in a dark voice.

The girl got up from his bed, put the Death Note back into her bag and quickly left the room without saying a word. She barely looked at him. She must really regret what she'd done, or maybe she was just scared.

Light sighed and sat down. He put his hands together and leaned his chin on them.

He knew he shouldn't be angry. Kagome's death wasn't a complete turnabout, and definitely not something that would determine the outcome of it all. She's out of the way – that's a good thing.

_But_ – there's still the fact that L knows that he had been in contact with her. If he finds out that she's died of a heart attack, it's hard not to make the connection. He may not know if she knew anything or if she had done anything that would involve her in the Kira case, but the fact that she knew Light was bad enough.

That wasn't the only thing that troubled Light. He was very sure that Kagome had been hiding _something _from him. She knew something about the death gods. It could be important information, and she might have been more involved with the Death Notes than he would have thought.

Still, that wasn't the biggest reason he was upset.

Light was frustrated over the quivering feeling of sorrow that was filling him.

* * *

Hm,there are some serious feelings in this do you feel most sorry for?

Like I said before;please review!It makes me so happy :3  
Stay tuned for the next chapter.


	10. Going on my own

Hello again!  
...This chapter contains a little bit of conflict...I realize how dark this story is turning out to be...

Anyways.

Disclaimer:Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

* * *

**Chapter 10 Going on my own**

Kagome's POV

As soon as she had regained some breath, Kagome attempted to return to the village. She didn't feel very vulnerable – just tired, and her legs felt heavy, but she tried taking it slowly. During the walk, she held a hand to her chest and felt her heartbeats, as if she was afraid they would speed up or, in worst case, stop altogether.

She thought it was best to return and tell the others what she was planning before leaving. Even though she dreaded telling them, fearing the sight of their worried faces, she knew she had to tell them about the heart attack as well.

She didn't need to go all the way to Kaede's hut until she saw InuYasha running from that direction. He looked angry, probably because of the way she had left earlier.

"And what the hell do you think you're-"

He stopped himself when he came close enough to see her pale face. And then he noticed the details; her hand clutched at her chest, her slow pace, and then...

Kagome saw how he sniffed in the air and realized he could feel the smell of death about her. But she hadn't even been dead for that long! She didn't even know if it could be called 'dying', since she hadn't moved on...

"Kagome, why do you smell like –" She sighed, but that just made him more demanding. "Kagome, tell me what's going on!"

She looked over his shoulder and saw Sango and Miroku approach, with Shippou sitting on Miroku's shoulder. They seemed surprised that Kagome was still there.

"Is everything all right, Kagome-sama?" Miroku asked.

"I – "

Where should she begin? It wasn't as simple as saying 'I had a a heart attack'.

She looked back at InuYasha who became more tense for each passing second, probably because of her smell.

"I think it was a shinigami, probably Justin", she said and looked at him. "I don't know what happened, but I came back and-"  
"You talk about it so easily!", InuYasha snarled. "You _died_, Kagome!"

She couldn't help but notice how his voice was shaking. Was it anger, or was it because he hadn't been there when it happened?

The others looked at her with shock.  
"Kagome-chan, what happened...?" Sango asked worriedly.

"A shinigami killed her!" The half demon yelled.

Kagome was relieved that there were no villagers nearby who could overhear them and get the wrong idea.

Sango, Miroku and InuYasha started talking in each other's mouths. Kagome sighed and waited for them to finish. She gave the small fox demon sitting at the monk's shoulder an apologetic look. He looked scared but didn't say anything.

"I know you're worried, and I'm not exactly calm about it either, but we need to move on. What's happened has happened, and we need to put an end to this", she finally said and ended their discussion.

They looked at her for a long while. Sango and Miroku worriedly (Miroku with a slightly more serious face, probably thinking more about the side effects of her heart attack), and InuYasha... Well, he looked both angry and concerned, and frustrated, of course.

"From now on, you're staying here with me", he said strictly.

"What? No, you can't make me!" she exclaimed. She understood his concern, but he just couldn't ask that of her.

"Are you insane? What if something like this happens again?"

"Well, I don't think that there would be anything you could do about it! He wasn't even nearby when he killed me!"

Silence.

Maybe she had said that in the wrong way. InuYasha looked a little hurt, probably because he realized she was right. There was nothing he could have done to save her.

"I'm not staying here", she said firmly.

"Kagome-chan, I understand what you're saying, but I think maybe it would be best if we stay together right now", Sango said.

"Yes, I have to agree", said the monk next to her.

She tried to explain what she had found out about the death gods and their connection to the killer in her world. But they didn't seem to understand. InuYasha didn't even try.

What did it matter to him, that in five hundred years there would be a killer with the same powers as a death god? And on top of that, one who judged the criminals in their society?

"I'm sorry, Kagome-sama, but especially now when your life is in danger..."

Kagome just shook her head, showing her frustration with them.

"You're _not _going!" InuYasha growled. "Are you really that stupid, risking your life for something like that?"

"You don't understand what this means! If it's a shinigami that controls Kira, then maybe there's something I can do to help-"  
"You don't even know how to kill a shinigami!"

She looked between them, desperate to see if any of them were with her. If they could understand her thinking at all, but they clearly couldn't.

She felt a knot in her stomache, but she knew what she wanted to – maybe even _had_ to do. She turned around and walked down the path out of the village again. But she soon felt a tight grip of her arm. She glanced behind her shoulder and was not surprised to see InuYasha, who was very determined not to let her go.

They looked at each other with anger, and this time Kagome felt it build up inside of her like never before. This was not only because of his persistence, but reminded her of all the things he had done lately that got her mad like this. She pulled her arm free from his grip, gave him one last glare and stormed off. He didn't try to stop her this time.

Light's POV

The snow outside had finally begun to cover the ground. This time it was here to stay. Light watched the people on the street outside his window pass with their umbrellas, some of them carrying bags filled with Christmas presents. For last couple of weeks, he hadn't cared very much for the oncoming holiday.

He glanced down at the cellphone in his hand. He still hadn't received an answer from Misa. He'd been trying to reach her for several hours now, but for some reason, she was ignoring his texts. If she hadn't contacted him in another hour, he would call her – and she'd better answer him then.

Yes, he was still very angry at her for what she had done to Kagome. It was very reckless to kill someone, especially an innocent person, _especially her, _without telling him first. But he did still need Misa's eyes and he needed to know where he had her in a situation like this.

He grittered his teeth when he was reminded of it. It would be more risky to kill L now, wouldn't? If the investigation found out that Kagome had died, and then L died of the same cause shortly after that. It would look like Kira was panicking. It would seem very suspiscious since Kagome didn't have any criminal record and she knew Light.

He sent Misa another text, reminding her to contact him as soon as she could, and that it was _important _that she did so.

He turned away from the window and fell down on his bed, letting out a long breath.

Still, he thought, he had been waiting long enough. Maybe this waiting was a waste of time, and maybe he was worrying for nothing? If he wanted to reach his goal, he had to get rid of L _soon. _But there was something holding him back, which was very frustrating.

He'd become paranoid, hadn't he?

He covered his eyes with his arm and tried to relax, but couldn't.

He needed to talk to Justin again, to see what the death god's plans were now that the girl he was after was dead. Would he leave the human world? That would make the most sense, but one never knew with those shinigamis.

Light heard a faint 'whooshing' sound and glanced under his arm. Ryuk had appeared and now stood in front of his desk, as if he had walked through the wall – which he most likely had. The death god watched him with interest.

"What now, Light? Have you run out of things to do?" he asked.

"Good timing, Ryuk." He sat up and they looked at each other. "I need you to find Justin again."

Ryuk didn't have any eyebrows, but a wrinkle between his yellow eyes appeared that showed that he furrowed them in confusion.

"Again? Why would that be neccessary?"  
"Well, if he's still here, then I need to know what he's up to."

Ryuk nodded after a while but Light also knew that he did not like being sent out on missions. Well, he doubted he had anything better to do.

The death god turned to the wall again, and Light thought that meant he was about to leave. He looked down at his hands and his mind went blank, like it had done many times during the day.

"Could it be that you are genuinly upset over that girl's death?"

Light flinched when he heard Ryuk's voice, seeing that he was still there. He sighed and gave him a cold glare.

"Don't be an idiot, Ryuk."

The shinigami chuckled. "I may not be very good at understanding humans with their emotions, but after spending time with Misa, I've learned a thing or two, and –"  
"It would be impossible for me to have any sort of feelings for her. And if you are interested in learning about human's emotions, Misa is not a good teacher."  
Ryuk shrugged but was obviously amused, as usual. Seeing Light in this state was probably very entertaining to him.

His black figure disappeared through the wall, and Light watched him leave the balcony outside.

Of course it was completely impossible for him to have any sort of feelings for Kagome. She'd been a huge pain in the neck, and now she was gone. It was a good thing.

InuYasha's POV

Tired of the looks and sighs from Miroku and Sango, InuYasha sat in his usual tree at the edge of the village. The tree was naked now, freed from all its leaves, which were now lying scattered on the ground like a colorful blanket. The scent of smoke filled the air, coming from the pyres that the villagers had lit to keep themselves warm. There were more fires than usual, because of the cold that had taken over the last couple of days. It had been snowing once or twice, but nothing that had stayed for long, which the people were thankful for.

InuYasha thought about the look Kagome had given him before she left them. Of course, he had been very angry himself at the time, but the memory of the fury that he could see in her was not a good one.

He felt a familliar itch on his cheek and his eyes narrowed. Slowly, he raised his hand, hesitated for only a second and then smashed his palm against the cheek. A satisfying "whack" was heard. He looked at his palm and saw, confirming his suspicions, a flattened Myouga.

The flea demon gave out sounds of pain, but it didn't take long until he was restored into his usual shape. He sat up in InuYasha's palm and gave him a nervous smile.  
"Oh, master InuYasha, it's been so long!" he squealed.

"Cut the crap", InuYasha said sourly. He snapped the flea away with his index finger and his thumb, but Myouga quickly returned to sit on his master's shoulder.

"It only takes one look at you to see that you are troubled", Myouga said as he skipped over the red fabric and found a perfect spot.

"Piss off."

"See? That only confirms it."  
Myouga sure did know how to be annoying. InuYasha's eyebrows twitched. But somehow, he couldn't remain angry for long. His thoughts drifted away to Kagome again, and to Justin. He was concerned. What if she was in danger right now? The mere thought instinctively made him ready to jump down and run to find her – but he controlled himself.

He sighed. The flea exclaimed in surprise when the half-demon didn't do anything as rash or cruel as flattening him again.

"Myouga-jiji", he said and caught his attention. "You know about the shinigami, right?"

Myouga had not been present much lately, and he hadn't been there during either of their hunts for Justin. But the flea had his ways, and he could get around information rather fast.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do", he answered, a small gloominess in his tiny voice.

"Then you know about Kagome, too?"

Myouga hesitated and then sighed. "Yes. She's in a very dangerous position."  
InuYasha opened his mouth to say something but closed it again. That had been what he wanted to ask about. The flea might be annoying, but he did have a lot of knowledge concerning demons and... mystical creatures.

Myouga gave out a sad noise, almost as if he was on the verge of crying. "Being marked by a shinigami... There's no way to escape that."

He didn't realize what his words did to InuYasha. He clenched his fists, his claws buried into the skin of his palms and drawing blood. His heart was pounding faster when the impossibility of it all came to him – there was no real way to defeat a god of death.

But _no. _There _had _to be a way.

"The shinigami probably won't make his move until later, though", Myouga said and crossed all four of his tiny arms.

InuYasha looked at him. "Why?"

The flea looked back at him, as if he had been stating the obvious. "Well... They're after the lifespan of humans. That's how they feed themselves. And the strength of a human's soul can strengthen the shinigami as well, which means that the stronger the soul the better."

InuYasha raised his eyebrow. "Yeah, so?"  
"I thought you already knew about this. Kagome is a curious case. It appears that, like a priestess, her soul is stronger than an average human, but the difference is that it keeps growing." He cleared his throat. "That's at least what Kaede-sama told me. Anyhow, the shinigami will probably wait as long as he possibly can to... ahem."  
The thing about Kagome's soul was not completely new to InuYasha. That there was some weird stuff going on with it... But he never understood it and he never cared about it. It was weird, thinking about Kagome's soul. Especially because it had originally been Kikyou's.

But if Myouga was right, if this meant that Justin would wait and let it grow more, then that meant that they had more time to find a way to defeat him.

The thought calmed him, but he was still restless. He couldn't just sit around and do nothing, they needed to move fast. Kagome's life was in danger, and there was no way he was just going to let her die.

Light's POV

Time was passing very slowly, and Light started to feel as if his house was his prison. Always waiting, always on the alert. Never relaxing. When, or rather said _if, _he left his room, his mother and sister gave him concerned and almost scared looks. They didn't speak much. If they tried to ask him something, he made his answer short and soon left the room again. He knew they both were worried, but kept it to themselves. It was easier that way.

In the Yagami family, it had always been important to share and be close to each other. Especially since Soichiro's work was very time-consuming, a very serious task at that. So they were there for each other, supporting each other and always part of what the others were up to.

So the fact that Sayu and Sachiko were anxious now was nothing strange.

He had went through his plans, his back-up plans, earlier events and possible outcomes over a million times in his head. He felt like he would go insane if Ryuk didn't return soon with news of where Justin was, or if he could return to the headquarters.

Every now and then, his thoughts drifted back to Kagome. She was out of the way, and it was relaxing not having to think about what would happen if she got in the way.

At one time, he connected her with that woman, Naomi Misora, who he had killed long ago. Their purposes were different, of course, but their influence of him was similar. Though Naomi had been a pain and a real threat because she had found out so many details about Kira, details that would lead L a long way ahead in his investigation. Kagome had been a threat because... Well, he had gone through that, too.

He was lying on his bed, his eyes nailed to the ceiling, when he noticed a black shape in the corner of his eye.

"Ryuk!"

The shinigami smiled, exposing his pointy teeth and gestured with his head towards the street. He had found Justin again, and they had arranged a meeting.

When Light rushed down the stairs, he passed Sayu. She stopped halfway and gave him a questioning look, which he did not answer. He left the house without a word to anyone.

It was getting late and the sky now had a color of dark grey, appearing a little smudged with clouds. It was snowing heavily in headwind, but Light trudged on, wrapping his jacket tightly around him.

He passed the giant stone stairs leading to the Higurashi temple without noticing.

Kagome's POV

When Kagome pushed aside the cold, humid wooden door of the well-house, the temple grounds were so white it was hard to make anything out at first. She let her eyes get used to the whiteness, adjusting from the darkness inside the hut, and took a step outside. She wasn't wearing any heavy jacket, so the harsh wind struck her violently and she wrapped her arms around herself.

Shuddering, she walked slowly ahead to the house across the grounds – but then a familliar wave of nausea hit her. She felt, if possible, even colder when she recognized it. Her eyes turned to the torii-gate. After a moment of hesitation, she moved towards it, faster and faster, and looked down the stairs to see if anyone was passing. She could only make out footprints below, and she decided to investigate closer. She went down the stairs as fast as she could without slipping on the ice.

The footprints led to her right, and she looked that way. And indeed, there was a man walking down that street. His head was bent down as to protect himself from the wind. If wasn't the man that caught her attention though, it was the gigantic black monster following him. He looked different, sure, but it didn't take long for her to understand that this was another shinigami. And the person he was following was...

She half-runned to keep up with the man, hoping he wouldn't turn around or notice her. She only needed to come a little closer to see if it really was him...

A strong wind blew towards them. Kagome stopped to protect herself from the attacking snow flakes, but managed to peer under her arm. She sighted the caramel-colored hair, he slowly turned his head to the side to shake it out of his eyes...

There was no denying it.

It was Light. But why was a shinigami following him?

She stood paralyzed on the street, her heart pounding. What happened next was exactly what she had been hoping wouldn't occur – she heard the death god speak to him.

"What interests me is how you humans never give up."

* * *

(A/N) I don't think that last quote was meant to mean anything,but that's actually up to you to decide ;) I hope you liked this this chapter,the "real things" are then...

Please review?*puppy eyes*


	11. What is revealed

Sorry for the slow update - school is taking up a lot of my time nowadays :/ But I have fall break for a week now,so hopefully the next chapter won't be too far off!

We start with a little Soichiro POV,so enjoy :)

Disclaimer:Death Note belongs to Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.I own nothing.

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**C****hapter 11 What is revealed**

Soichiro's POV

Soichiro Yagami was the kind of person who always tried, no, always had, to keep a positive attitude towards his work. Maybe 'positive' wasn't exactly a fitting word for a police. 'Determined' might be go better with the situation. Especially since he was the leader of a team, it was important that he never showed himself tired or made the people who worked for him believe that there was no way that they could solve this case.

Weeks and weeks of working and going through what felt like the same thing. Soichiro was beginning to think he had already read the document he was holding, maybe two or three times. But if L still was convinced that they might find something by doing this...

He glanced at the detective, who sat hunched on a chair in front of his computers like usual. Was he working with the same thing they were? He would have believed that L, of all people, would have found what he was looking for by now, or he would have switched to something else. He sighed.

He didn't know if it was because of the sound he emitted, or maybe because he felt someone was looking at him, but the black haired man turned to gaze at Soichiro over his shoulder. There was a silver spoon in his mouth, a typical ice-cream spoon. His eyes were completely expressionless however.

Soichiro pretended not to notice that their eyes had met and focused his gaze on the paper again. The room was very quiet, since Matsuda, who was the biggest source of noise in their work group, had gone out for lunch with Ide. It wasn't usual that they left the building when they needed to eat, Watari usually brought them everything they needed, but since not much was happening anyway, they thought it was okay. Soichiro could not really forbid them to leave the building. But it made him slightly frustrated. No, things might not be going well at the moment, but they were still after Kira, who still was the world's most dangerous murderer. It was also true that he hadn't killed anyone for a while, but...

"Yagami-san", a dark voice suddenly said. Soichiro flinched and looked at L, who had spun around in his chair and was now facing him, hands on his knees. "Isn't Yagami-kun coming back soon?"

The question startled him. Whenever Light was absent from the investigation for longer periods, Soichiro forgot that his son was actually a part of the team. And he tensed when he remembered why Ryuzaki would want to know why Light wasn't returning.

He opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by Aizawa, who had been listening to them.

"Ryuzaki, weren't you the one who wanted Light to leave?" he asked, slightly accusing.

"Yes, but I always welcome him back here. He does a great job, and has helped us so much this far. I just don't want him to overwork himself. So, I'm just curious to when he's coming back?"

Soichiro looked straightly into L's eyes. The detective was now licking his spoon even though the ice cream was long gone.

"Light working with us indeed makes things easier, but he's still in school. If he wants to become work with us for real, he has to finish his education. I guess he's realized that by now."

There was silence between them. L turned to the wagon next to him, placed the empty ice-cream bowl on it, and stretched for a plate of biscuits with the colors of a rainbow.

L knew there must be another reason why Light wasn't coming back. Soichiro could see it in his eyes, even though they were always so hard to read. He firmly believed what he had said himself. Light was responsible. He trusted his son greatly.

He let out a breath through his nose and returned to the mountain of papers.

The door was opened and everyone in the room looked up to see who it was. It was Watari, with another wagon of treats. He rolled it in slowly, with the usual smile on his face. They all appreciated the things Watari brought them (they weren't all desserts for L), but there were things that the others on the team craved to stay alert. Coffee, for example.

Soichiro gladly accepted his cup and watched as the old man reached his last stop; L's desks. As usual, the detective had his back turned against them all. Watari loaded the empty plates and bowls onto the first wagon, which now held nothing more to plunder, and replaced it with the new one.

"Watari, can you tell me if Yagami-kun has been seen with Higurashi-san lately? Or has anything happened to her?"

The question immediatelly made Soichiro's veins pulsate. Still suspecting Light to be Kira, sure. But why, oh why was he thinking that he might murder a teenage girl that he has seen a few times?

He grumbled, put a hand to his forehead but didn't say anything. He was surprised when he heard what Watari answered.

"Actually, Ryuzaki, there has been an interesting discovery concerning Higurashi-san. She's been missing from school for more than half of the term, and when she returns, she's only present for a week at most", Watari said as he placed a slice of cheesecake in front of L, as if he knew that was what he wanted.

L reached out with his spoon to the cheesecake, still looking at Watari. "Some serious illness?"

"That is the really perplexing part. The school says the reason for her absence is disease, but I've looked up her name in all hospitals in Tokyo. She hasn't been enrolled for any long-term disease anywhere, and even less stayed for periods that long."

The men sat quiet, all thinking of what that girl was up to when she was absent from school. Soichiro first thought was that she was simply skipping school, but it would be impossible to do so for that long without the school interfering.

And since the school said she was absent because of disease, that mean that her family had reported it, and it excluded home-schooling.

When he finally broke free from his speculations, he looked across the room to Aizawa and Mogi, who were still deep in thought. Distracted from their real target.

And Ryuzaki remained silent.

Light's POV

It was easy to spot Justin's golden figure across the white park. He shimmered but appeared cold to Light. He sped up the last metres.

The shinigami had been gazing into outer space, appearing to be watching the falling snow, but Light knew he had at least sensed his approach, and doubted he would be distracted as something so trivial. Perhaps Ryuk would, but Justin wouldn't.

"We meet again, Light Yagami."

Light didn't greet him back, but gave him a cold stare.

"I'm going straight to the point – Kagome Higurashi is dead. So I'm wondering what your plans are now? Will you be staying here, or –"

He stopped talking when he noticed the look Justin was giving him. At first, he looked surprised, then he started grinning. By the time Light stopped talking, he chuckled and then broke out into hysterical laughter. It was easy to sense trouble.

Light gave Ryuk a grim look, as if he was already blaming him for whatever Justin was laughin for. Ryuk shrugged. He appeared to know as little as Light did.

"What is it?" he asked doggedly.

"You see, Kagome Higurashi can't possibly be dead", Justin said and laughed a bit more. It sounded hollow, and as if he was an old man who had been smoking fifty cigarettes every day for ten years. "Because if she were, I would know. Trust me, I would know. I marked her after all."

Light didn't know what to say. His mind went blank. Kagome was alive? Was there a chance that Justin was lying? But why would he be lying about this? He glanced at Ryuk.

"I think he's telling the truth, Light. If a shinigami marks a human, he'll know immeditatelly if that person dies. It's the same when a shingami is attached to a human."

The student looked down to his feet, looked up to the grinning death god again and shook his head in confusion.

"But I saw her name in a Death Note. It was written very clearly, I know it was her name", he said.

Justin didn't answer but kept grinning, as if he expected Light to figure everything out on his own. He flew backwards and sat on the back of a nearby bench.

"I don't think I've ever told you what's so special about Kagome's lifespan", he said as casually as if he was talking about the weather.

Light frowned. "Special? What do you mean?"

The shinigami looked up at the white sky. It didn't snow as much anymore, only small, soft flakes fell to the ground now, soundlessly.

"Yes, there's something that makes her lifespan very valuable", Justin began. "First of all, it's hard to tell when her life will actually end. Sometimes it seems like the numbers are shifting, but I have found that the real reason is because there is a shadow of someone else's lifespan behind hers."

"What?"

Light might not know a lot about how the lifespans worked, not more than the basics – even Misa would know more than him, since she had the eyes. But from what Justin was telling him, he could understand instantly that something was indeed strange.

"What do you mean, is she sharing lifespan with someone else?"

"Not quite. The other lifespan is actually, how do you say it, counted down to zero. Or well, it's not active anymore. Behind Kagome's however, it's active again. And that's what makes it hard to decide, when Kagome's own lifespan will end."

Light didn't quite follow, but nodded because he sensed that there was more to know.

"Except for that fact, the shadow of the other person's lifespan seems to have doubled her own. Sometimes it switches back to the length of a normal person's life, but I have noted, that on several occasions, her life gets twice as long."

"... So, what does this mean, other than the fact that her lifespan's undecided?" Light asked.

Justin grinned. "Oh, I know the reason. But I can't tell you. I don't want to get you too confused. But don't worry, it's nothing that will get in the way of your plans."  
"But still, Kagome's alive, which she shouldn't be, and _that_ if something, changes things", Light muttered. "Look, I don't want her to be in my way. The things you just told me and the fact that she's still alive though she should have been killed by the Death Note – it's proof that she's too much of a risk to have around. So it would be great if you could hurry up with whatever you're planning and kill her now."

"Oh? But whyever should I do what you tell me?" Justin asked with honest curiosity.

Ryuk started laughing. Light closed his eyes and sighed in frustration. Of course, these blasted gods of death were never simple.

"Listen..."

Kagome's POV

Kagome's heart was pounding with fear and confusion. Why was Light talking to Justin? No, the bigger question was why he was talking to two shinigamis in the first place. Nothing made sense anymore.

Her thoughts didn't want to connect, or maybe _she _didn't want them to connect. But after some time, it was almost impossible to _not _think about the possibility – that Light was Kira.

Because she had already made the connection between the murderer and shinigamis. So this strengthened her theories. But no! He couldn't possibly be Kira! Or could he? But he was Light, and Light was a good person! He had saved her more than once, and he took care of her, and was polite, and...

She knew this was the wrong way of thinking. Living in a world with demons, hunting for jewel shards with InuYasha and the others, had taught her a lot about the naïve way of thinking.

She was hiding behind a tree not too far away from where they were standing in the park. She couldn't make out everything they were saying, but she had been able to pick up certain parts of the conversation. Enough to understand what was going on, and enough to know that she should be troubled.

She had understood that Light had met Justin before. That Light reported that she, Kagome, was supposed to be dead, and Justin had informed him that this was (obviously) not the case. And this hade made her paralyzed with sorrow and fear. Light wanted her dead. He wanted her dead and had been shocked to know that she wasn't. He wanted her out of the way. But why? Was it possible to gather anything from this, except for the fact that he could be Kira?

She had the facts, and they all started to point very clearly to it, but her mind wouldn't progress the information.

And she was still left wondering; why would Light want her dead? She didn't have anything to do with the Kira case, and if Light was Kira, what had she possibly done to make her be in his way? She just didn't understand anything.

Not only her heart was pounding, but now her head was pounding as well. Because of confusion, and the overwhelming feelings of fear and sorrow.

Her thoughts got her distracted and she missed out on a big part of the conversation. When she looked up to the company again, it was harder to hear what they said – they spoke in lower voices. She tried to get a grip of what they were discussing, but it was too difficult.

She took a shaky breath, the air that filled her lungs felt so cold right now, and leaned forward behind the tree, hoping that she could hear something more. It was tricky, because it was also very important that they didn't notice her. Then she could make out a few words, and she held her breath.

"... I'll make sure L's dead by then."

That was Light's voice. Kagome gasped and instinctively hid behind the tree again.

_L. That's the detective that's after Kira. Light said he's going to make sure L's dead._

Once again, the words were spinning around in her head. She could feel tears burning behind her eyes, but she couldn't really figure out why. Fear? Sadness? Stress?

She became aware of how silent the park felt. She wiped away the single tear that had fallen over her frozen cheek, and gazed at the area in front of her. There was no one there. She listened for the group. They didn't speak. Had they left?

She was about to lean to the side and see if they were still there, when she heard a raspy, bloodcurling laugh. She quickly drew back to the stem of the tree, since she recognized the laughter as a shinigami.

"We have company, Light."

The shinigami, the one that had been following Light, spoke loud and clear. Just loud enough so that Kagome could make everything out.

When he had spoken, she almost instantly had a hunch that he was talking about _her. _That he knew she was there.

Her heart pounded so hard that she thought it might break her ribcage. She felt the nausea building up, as she leaned to the side to glance at them. Slowly, slowly.

And indeed, Light was standing at a distance, gazing at her with an unreadable expression. No, it was easy to tell, even from afar, that there was something dark in his eyes. The shinigami that had spoken looked at her as well, as if she was an animal at the zoo. And of course, Justin, who supported his chin with his palm and just appeared... content. As if he had expected her to show up.

Light's POV

It felt like an eternity passed between them.

Light and Kagome just looked at each other. A silent conversation could have taken place between them, messages could have been exchanged, but at the same time, it was like they were speaking to each other without understanding what the other was trying to say.

This was one of these moments when the world stood still. Nothing progressed in Light's mind. Thoughts tried to form in his head, but they were all pushed away and then drowned into nothingness.

_What happens now?_

Sooner or later, one of them had to make a move. Perhaps Light was frozen to the spot he was standing, by the cold or by shock, but Kagome wasn't. After seconds or minutes, he noticed how she looked behind him to stare at the place where shinigamis were. Could she see them? It certainly appeared to be that way.

She backed away. Took one step. Stopped. Took another two, hesitated, met his eyes and then ran away. Soon, she was gone.

The silence, the spell, was broken. Justin woke Light from his stupor, or mental congelation, by laughing. That horrible laugh that all gods of death seemed to possess – though they were different, but still had those annoying similarities.

Light swore he could _hear _Ryuk grinning.

"Humans..."

_Yes, Ryuk. _Humans. _Amusing. Very funny._

His heart was racing from seeing her. She was alive after all. She was alive. Light was confused. Why did it feel like a load of pressure had been lifted off his shoulders?

Without saying a word to either of the shinigamis, he steered his steps home. He walked slowly, letting the cold seep into the inside of his jacket. It was like he didn't feel it. But by the time he came inside, he did feel how frozen his body was and he shivered. The warmth came pouring over him in an instant, but what was left of it, and the body's memory of it, lingered.

Why did he let Kagome take up so much place in his head? And what happened to his feelings whenever she was around? He thought he had cast all those things aside long ago, so that he could concentrate on making this world a better place. So that he wouldn't be distracted.

He didn't declare to anyone that he had come home, but his mother heard him arrive. She peeked out of the kitchen and said 'welcome home', and asked where he had been, but he didn't even look at her. He stepped out of his shoes and straight to the stairs leading to his room. He closed his bedroom door behind him, to isolate himself from the outer world like usual.

He sank down on his bed, heavily, as if his body was weighing several tons. He leaned forward and rested his head in his hands and stared blankly into the wall at the opposite side of the room.

One thought was echoing in the silence now.

Kagome could see death gods.

And she had seen them _with him._

There was absolutely no way he could let her live now.

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And we finish with a cliffhanger!;)  
Please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter!3


	12. Move

Okay,it took a little longer than I'd hoped, but here it is!Right now I feel like I can't wait until I get to the end of this 's not that I don't like writing it anymore,or that I have ANY plans whatsoever of not finishing it,but...Yeah.I just can't wait until this project is finished so I can move onto my next story.'Cause I have many ideas :3

Disclaimer:Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi. Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takashi. Not me.

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**Chapter 12 Move**

Kagome's POV

She didn't know where she was.

She had left the park without thinking of where she was headed, just aware that she needed to get away from Light. It was unbearable to look at him, to look at the death gods. And so she had passed several buildings, turned at many streets, and now she was in the middle of town again. Surrounded by people, tall buildings, neon signs and racing cars. How was it possible that she still felt so helpless and completely isolated?

Her eyes searched for faces in the crowd. Was there someone there she recognized? Someone there who was looking for her? She caught herself looking for InuYasha. They may have fought before she left the others, but at the moment, his comfort was the one she longed for the most. But there was no one there.

The sky was black, though white flakes continued falling down to the ground. The city was lit up by the million neon signs and street lights, their reflection glowing in the pavement where the snow had already melted away.

Kagome placed her hand on her heart and felt its beat. There was a knot in her stomach when she felt how fast her pulse was. It was _too _fast, and it was beating irregularly. It didn't feel good. Was it hard to breathe?

She was getting dizzy. Maybe she needed to sit down.

Her eyes searched the crowded square for a bench or something alike. She made her way to the closest one, and ignored the fact that the wood was wet from the snow. Her coat was long enough to prevent her clothes from becoming damp. But her heart didn't want to calm down.

Kagome felt as if her fever had returned, though she knew it hadn't. She rocked back and forth and tried to regain her regular breathing. Was it just panic?

She didn't notice when someone approached her and sat down next to her on the bench. When the figure was caught in the corner of her eye, she glanced at him. His sitting position was odd – his feet were above ground, the knees pulled up to his body and his hands placed on either knee. Next she noticed his appearance; the black, dirty untidy hair, and the fact that his clothes weren't fit for the winter weather. Only a white long-sleeved shirt, a pair of baggy blue jeans and sneakers, which, she noticed, he wore without socks.

It took her a while to realize that she had actually met this man before. On the train, when she was on her way home, caught in the haze from the poison-fever. She was rather sure it was him.

"You look troubled." He sounded as if they had already been talking for ten minutes or more.

Kagome gave him an anxious look but turned her eyes away. She resumed trying to keep control of her breathing.

"You do recognize me, don't you?" he asked, and this time he turned to look at her. His eyes gave her the chills, just feeling them stare at her. "I told you we would meet again."  
Kagome nodded. "You asked me about the Kira case," she said quietly.

"It's because I'm actually part of the Kira investigation". She was shocked that he could say it just like that, so easily, in a place where he was surrounded by people. But he seemed convinced that no one was eavesdropping. "And the reason I asked you about it, is because you are a person whose opinions would be interesting to consider."

She raised an eyebrow. "But you don't really know me..."

"You have a connection to someone who is also part of the investigation", he said without listening to her. "Light Yagami."

Kagome felt as if her blood suddenly froze. Light was part of the Kira investigation? But, she had been so sure he was Kira... No, this didn't make any sense at all. She just glanced at the man, as if she was checking if he was joking.

"Why are you telling me this? Who are you?" she whispered.

She felt as if his dark eyes penetrated her mind. The feeling was much more terrifying than when she had experienced it last, on the train. Of course, back then she had been delirious and not really aware of her surroundings.

"I'm the leader of the investigation", he answered, waiting for her reaction. She felt as if she was part of some test of his.

The leader of the Kira investigation? She thought that was the man she had seen on television, though she couldn't really recall his name. Perhaps this guy really was just kidding with her. He could be insane for all she knew, and considering his apperance, maybe that wouldn't be so surprising. And he said Light was part of it as well...

She wondered if she should just get up and try to get away from him.

"I know you're doubting me, but I am telling the truth. As of late, you have become interesting in our investigation, since you have become... let's say, close to Light. He is in fact not only working with us, but he is also... a suspect."

Okay, this guy really got her head spinning. She frowned.

"Are you telling me that Light is working with you to find Kira, but he is also suspected of being Kira?"

"Yes."

"Why are you dragging me into this? What do you mean, 'I'm close to Light'? I'm not! And why is my opinion of Kira important in your work? I don't understand anything."

She drew a long breath after using so much air. When she looked back at the man, he was just simply watching her. She tried meeting his eyes, but they were dead and expressionless and made her look away just seconds later.

"If you can be completely honest with me", the man said in a lower voice, "can you say that you haven't suspected him at all?"

She didn't answer. She just felt that _he knew._  
"Who are you?" she asked him again, her voice came out as a whisper.

His next words were spoken so quietly that she could have taken it for a passing wind.

"I'm L."

_Does it make more sense now?_

She breathed out, maybe in relief. Of course, she still didn't know if she could trust this guy or not, but something told her she could.

She couldn't help it – next thing she knew, she was confiding in this man.

"I just... I could never believe it", she said. "He's... He's not a person that would... become Kira." That was the simplest way she could put it.

"When it comes to people, we can never be completely sure. They can always turn into someone else and commit acts that you thought they were unable to."

Kagome wondered if the man had a certain person in mind when he spoke, because his gaze turned just a little more distant. She shuddered.

"I saw him speak to... ", she hesitated and took a deep breath. "Death gods. They were... horrible. And he was talking to them as if he knew them."

She had spoken before she realized how her words would sound to someone else. She was silent and waited for L's reaction – he would probably deem her as crazy.

But he surprised her once again.  
"What did they look like?" he asked.  
She was at a loss of words at first, but then regained herself. "Um, well... They were both very big. One of them had a... body clad in black, but his skin was white. It was hard to make out any details. The other one...", she paused. She knew _exactly _what Justin looked like up-close, but if she described him too much in detail, it would seem suspiscious. "He had a body of gold. And I think he had diamonds in his skin."

L didn't say anything, and after a while, his silence made her nervous. He thought she was insane, after all.

"I- I must have seen wrong, I-"

"Not at all. I can quite understand your experience. It's very interesting, and it will help us a lot in the investigation."

_What in the world does he mean by that?_

She sat still with her mouth half-open. The man got up from his bizarre sitting position and looked at her over his shoulder. His mouth shaped into what must have been an attempt of smiling, but it looked a bit forced. Kagome thought he was grimacing at first. Then he turned away and wandered off into the crowd. She stared after him until she could no longer spot his white shirt.

InuYasha's POV

They had been still too long. They had barely gone outside the village since Kagome left them, and the lack of action made InuYasha restless. They couldn't wait any longer. What if Justin was on his way to kill Kagome right now? Myouga had tried to assure him that this was most likely not the case, but how could he be sure?

He had noticed Sango's restlessness as well. He had taken regular position up in the tree outside Kaede's hut, and that was where he spent most of the days, if not searching the area for demons. But the demon huntress, she was unable to sit still. He saw her wander off and take walks in and around the village daily. She helped Kaede pick herbs. She searched for demons, just like he did – but she was obviously going much further, since she came back with bones and antlers of creatures that couldn't have been found anywhere nearby. He didn't know if it was because of worry for Kagome, or if she, just like him, thought that they should make a move soon. She was probably just as determined to find Justin as everyone else – but other than that, her heart was aching to find Naraku. She needed to find her brother, Kohaku. InuYasha understood her anxiousness very well.

The only one who didn't seem bothered by their immobility, was the monk. But then again, he needed to show patience and unlike the rest of them, believed that Kagome should solve her own quest before they moved. He had convinced them to stay in the village, and at least wait a few more days to see if she would returned, before they moved on.

He knew well enough to listen to Miroku from time to time. Even if their opinions often differed greatly, he could also see that he knew what he was doing. He always had a reason, and even if he didn't always like or understand that reason, he respected the monk for it. He respected Miroku a great deal.

But InuYasha had had enough.

He glared down at the hut, and even if he couldn't actually see the monk, he could imagine him sitting there in front of the fire, sipping tea or whatever. Just acting _calmly_. That was all he did. If he wasn't out flirting with the village women, that was.

He jumped down from the tree and stomped away to the hut, and pushed the curtain aside.

Miroku's POV

Miroku knew that InuYasha was coming before he heard his angry steps outside. He closed his eyes and sipped his tea and waited for him to enter.

"Monk!" InuYasha said loudly. He had that typical impatient and dissatisfied tone only InuYasha could muster. It had a remarkable resemblance to a child's whining, at times. "We need to decide where we're going next. We can't just sit around any longer, or Justin'll-"

"InuYasha, can I speak?" Miroku interrupted. He put the empty clay mug down in front of him, and thanked Kaede for it. "I already know what you think. And I think you're right. We need to decide our next move. Though I doubt we'll find him if we search for him. But we need to come up with a way to harm him at all."

InuYasha frowned.

"InuYasha, you have to remember, that last time we fought him he barely seemed to notice our weapons. I figured that it must take a lot more to harm a god of death."

The half demon nodded. "Yeah, you're right. But we don't have a lot of time, so we can't go across Edo just to find something that might not even work."

Miroku glanced at the priestess sitting across the hut. She was preparing some herbs, but looked up and gave them both a tired look.

"I'm sorry, but my knowledge in death gods is very limited. I've already told you all I know. How they feed on human lives and that they don't live in our world. They don't come down here very often. In fact, I've never heard of a shinigami who follows a human. It seems unneccessary."

"You don't have to apologize, Kaede-sama", Miroku said and smiled. "You are always a great help."

He looked into the fire and thought about what he had learned himself. Just like Kaede had said, there were close to no records about them because they so rarely visited the human world. Was there even a way to defeat them? It's a god after all, but...

"Kaede-sama, is it possible that the body of a shinigami can be affected by demon energy, just like any other living creature?"

She looked surprised. "Well, it's not impossible... I have no idea what energy runs in their realm, but they are different in every way. They resemble demons in some ways, and in others they don't. But why do you ask?"  
"If the energy does affect them, and their aura become more like a demon's, it might be easier to find a way to make Justin vulnerable."

InuYasha looked doubtful. "Make them more like demons? That sounds a bit simple."  
"It worries me that you, of all people, would say that InuYasha. But it's worth a try", Miroku said.

"What is?"

Everyone looked up to see Sango enter the hut. She was dressed in her villager-kimono, and carrying a basket filled with branches for the fire. Her cheeks flushed when she came into the warmth. There were snowflakes in her hair.

As always, Miroku got a little off track when he saw her. When she had put the basket down where Kaede had pointed, she turned back to them with a questioning look on her face.

"Have we decided where we're going next? Aren't we waiting for Kagome-chan?"

"We don't know when she'll be back, and I think we should give her the time she needs", Miroku said. He could see how InuYasha shifted uncomfortably in the corner of his eye. "We need a little more information about the shinigamis though, and I think I know the right place to go. Mushin was my teacher, and he has taught me everything I know –"

He ignored the snort from InuYasha's side. Yes, Mushin might not appear to be a wise monk, but Miroku, who had been raised by him, knew more than anyone else that he really was.

" – there are a lot of old scrolls in his temple that no one ever has had any use of. I think I recall there was one in particular that involved god's from the death realm. We should go to Mushin's temple and see if there's anything to find."

Sango nodded. He knew she had been restless the past couple of days, maybe not as much as InuYasha, but she was hiding her anxiousness and troubled feelings so that she wouldn't bother anyone. He often caught himself thinking of what she wanted when he considered something new – she might not say it herself, if she thought it was selfish of her. And now, he could see that the tension was releasing itself from her body and she was eager to be off.

So was the half-demon.

"Let's get ready at once."

Light's POV

"How the hell could this be?" Light asked grimly.

He was crossing the street, walking with a stiff posture and his shoulders raised as if to cover himself from something. It added as a protection against the snow which was blowing in headwind. The two shinigamis followed, both at a short distance.

"She can see shinigamis. Only humans who have touched the Death Note are supposed to be able to do that." He shot an angry glare to the two figures behind him. "Any explanations?"  
Ryuk looked up nonchalantly, pretending he wasn't the least frightened by Light when he was like this. "Don't ask me, I've never seen anything like this before..."  
Justin on the other hand, looked utterly bored, as if he couldn't understand why he had to follow Light in the first place. His way of flying wasn't the same as Ryuk's. His limbs weren't hanging heavily, and his body was straightened out in a more elegant manner. His wings weren't as tattered, either.

"I'm not surprised that you didn't notice, Ryuk, but there _was _a slight change in the numbers of her lifespan."

Ryuk let out a choking sound. "Huh?"  
Light slowed down to glance at Justin. "What do you mean?"

The golden death god didn't meet the human's eyes but looked straightly ahead, as if it was unworthy to look down at him. "There was also something about her energy. It was familliar. It reminded me a bit of the portal to our realm. A little different, yes, but it was basically the same."

"Which means...?" Ryuk asked in a dumb tone.

Justin's cold diamond eyes looked frustrated that his subordinate did not understand. "Kagome Higurashi was close to our realm. She might have been dead for a few minutes." He was silent for a moment as if he was pondering what he had just said. "It does make sense. There was a short while when I couldn't feel her prescence. I didn't acknowledge it, because it returned not long after I felt it. But it must have meant she died."  
This made Light stop walking completely and turned around to face him.

"That's ridiculous. Humans don't just die and come back to life again", he said irritably. "And isn't one of the basic rules for the Death Note, 'once a name is written in the Death Note, it can't be undone'?"

The shinigamis looked at him in silence for a few seconds. Ryuk chuckled but still had a puzzled look on his pale face. He looked between Light and Justin, as if he was waiting for one of them to confirm what really had happened. Justin remained immobile a while longer, then burst out into laughter as well.

Light sensed that Justin was laughing because to him, a human lecturing _him _about the use of the Death Note was just, in every single way, ludicrous.

"You are right. But Death Notes are interesting tools... Shouldn't you know that better than anyone?" Justin asked, a hint of teasing in his raspy voice.

They measured each other for a few seconds before Light broke his staring and turned around. His mind felt clouded because of all the spinning thoughts.

What was he going to do, especially now that she knew he was in association with the shinigami? Well, he didn't know if she even knew what they were, but- Hadn't she spoken about them when she was unconcious?

He sighed. There was a big hole in his guts, and it felt like it was eating him from inside. It wasn't guilt. But it made him feel empty, and it was sublimely annoying.

Whether she knew about them or not wasn't important. She'd seen him with them, and she had to be killed. But he couldn't do it just like that, for the same reason he had told Misa not to. It would be far too easy for L to make the connection between them. He could write her cause of death as an accident, which would make it look less suspiscious in relation to Kira. Though, L already knew that Kira could kill in more ways than one.

It was risky, but it might be the only option. It was far more risky to let her live...

The hole in his gut grew wider, something was tearing at it.

He stopped in the middle of the street and made up his mind. He took a turn to the right, which surprised the shinigamis.

"Hey Light, where are you going?" Ryuk asked.

"I'm heading back to the investigation. It's been a while since I left." No matter how turbulent things were now, he still needed L to think everything was in order.

He could hear the flip of wings behind him.  
"There's no need for me to continue following you, Light Yagami. I've done what I need to, and I have no obligations to you", Justin said.

Light didn't respond, but listened as the sound of his flapping wings grew more distant.

_We'll probably meet again, soon._

Kagome's POV

Never before had she been more relieved to be back in her own bedroom. The walls felt safe and sturdy and maybe they could protect her from everything. She just needed to block the world out for a while.

She collapsed on her bed on her stomache and buried her face in her pillow.

There's a small part of her that just wants to stay in her room and lay in her bed for the rest of all time. Without obligations to anyone or anything. She would feel safe that way. But the remaining and bigger part of her wanted to be somewhere else. She wanted to be with InuYasha.

But due to their fight, and the way that she had left him, returning wasn't a very welcome thought. She knew the others probably were waiting for her anyway, and she felt guilty when she thought of Miroku and Sango, but she let her pride take over.

Maybe it wasn't just her pride, but also sadness. A darker part of her mind whispered that they would be better off without her, and since they didn't understand her determination to help the people in the Kira investigation, maybe she was better off without them. At least for now.

Kagome shook her head and buried her face deeper into the pillow.

The thoughts returned to the Kira case. L. Kira. The death gods. Light. _Light._

She can feel tears burning in her eyes, and she's just seconds away from letting it all out. At the moment, the absence of InuYasha, the guilt of letting her friends down, the pressures from school and the confusion of suddenly standing in the middle of a homicide-investigation can't weigh up to how much she wants to see Light.

She really does. She wants to talk to him and she wants to hear him say _that he's not Kira_.

But he won't want to meet her. She bites her lip and feels the pillow become damp because of her escaping tears.

She knows Light wants to kill her.

* * *

(A/N) Okay,the ending might have been a little angsty. This story is rather dark,after all...I hope you like it anyways!^^''  
Please tell me what you think.


	13. Heartbroken

Hello and happy first day of Christmas!:D  
As usual,I'm sorry for a long delay and have to apologize for a short next one will probably (hopefully) be a long also as usual,the reason for the delay is school work -.- Don't we all hate it?

Read and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi belongs to Rumiko me.

* * *

**Chapter 13 Heartbroken**

Light's POV

His gaze was immobile and focused on the ceiling. He barely even blinked. His body was so motionless it could have been mistaken for dead, if it weren't for the steady heaves of his chest. It was noon, but Light hadn't moved all day.

He had visited the investigation and stayed with them for two or three days. Their work was steady but progress was slow, just like Light wanted it. He felt the frustration of the other polices and was reminded that he couldn't wait much longer with his own plan.

Which brought him back to where he was now – motionless. Unwilling to move.

His mother hadn't dared come close to his room since he came home, except for around evening when she lightly knocked on his door and said in a low voice that dinner was served and he was welcome to join her and his sister. He didn't.

His cellphone vibrated on his nightstand. He turned his head and stared at it's lit up screen for a few seconds before he answered it. It was Matsuda.

"Um, Light? I know you just got home, but we need you here..."

It was amusing how apologetic the cop sounded. He should know by now that Light was never late to help at the investigation, and he was more distressed when he was sent home than when he was asked to return.

"It's okay. I'll be there in less than an hour." He was about to end the call when he heard Matsuda interject on the other end.

"You don't have to rush! Really, it's no hurry-"

"It's okay, Matsuda. I'll be there."

And with those words, he flipped the phone and slowly got up from his bed.

The house was quiet. His mother wasn't at home, probably working, and his sister at school. He figured he could just as well get something to eat before he left, so that he didn't starve while working.

He opened the fridge and saw the left-overs from last night, curry with rice, placed orderly on the middle shelf. His mother had clearly been hoping for him to find it. He reheated the food in the microwave, served it on a plate and ate quickly, leaning against the counter next to the sink. While he was eating, he glanced at the newspaper that was still lying on the table. There was nothing new about any murders or the Kira case. Some massacre that had taken place in Europe, he assumed from the pictures and the headlines.

For once, he didn't pay it any mind.

He rinsed his bowl and put it in the sink. It only took him a minute or two to get ready to leave. He stepped out into the snowy outside world, locked the door and turned around. He stopped before he had even taken one step.

He saw someone leaning against the wall just next to their gate. A girl with long, wavy black hair.

_What is she doing here? _

Light felt his heart beats increase as he approached her. She reacted when she heard the sound of steps in the snow and turned. Her cheeks were red from the cold – she had probably been waiting for him a while.

_Waiting for me to get outside so that I won't escape when she meets me._

He stopped and for maybe a minute or two, they just looked at each other in silence. There was still more than six feet between them, but it felt like they were too close.

Finally, Kagome gathered a shaky breath and looked him right in the eyes. He saw determination and wondered what she wanted.

"We need to talk", she said.

It didn't take long for him to realize where she was taking him. He couldn't say he was surprised either, but the speed of his heartbeats increased a little when he saw the park in the distance. The park where they had last seen each other.

They were walking with a big space between them, Kagome in the lead. She hadn't turned to see if he was following during the whole way. Light knew he could have refrained from following her, but for some reason, he had. It might even be safer to follow her and see what she has to say than letting her run off without knowing what her intentions are.

They reached the place where Light had spoken to Ryuk and Light. He glanced over to the tree where she had been hiding. Kagome looked down at the ground before her and creased her eyebrows, as if she was trying to find out what she was going to say.

"What is it you wanted to say?" Light asked after they had stood silent for maybe a minute. Kagome raised her head again and focused her gaze over his shoulder. She apparantly didn't, or _couldn't_, meet his eyes.

"I'm just going to ask you straight out", she began. Her voice was trembling a bit. Light almost found it amusing how insecure she appeared, even if she was trying to make him believe she was brave and confronting. "Why were you talking to those shingami?"  
_She even knows what they are. _

He stared at her, as if he was trying to read her thoughts. Then he gazed at their surroundings, to see if there was anyone at a hearing distance. He knew there might be a slight possibility that she had brought someone, like a police or someone connected to L, with her. He couldn't spot anyone, the park was close to deserted except for the two of them. He couldn't be sure there wasn't anyone hiding somewhere though, like Kagome had. Better speak quietly. But he wasn't going to answer her question so easily.

"I think first of all I should ask you why you can see them", he said coldly.

Kagome opened her mouth but closed it again. Her eyes flickered and she looked as if she was trying to find her words again.

"I... I don't know", she said quietly. It was very easy to tell she was lying. "I do know a bit about them, though."  
_Trouble. _"Like what?"

"Well, I... I know that they can give their powers to humans. Or something like that, and um...". She looked to her side and pulled a strand of hair behind her ear. "It means that the human can kill anyone in whatever way and whenever he wants to."

The last words came out more quietly than the rest. As if she was afraid to speak them. Afraid to see how he would react.

He didn't know how she could have found out those things. Was it possible that she had had her own connection to a shinigami in the past? No, he seriously doubted that she had ever been the owner of a Death Note. So how... ? Had she known someone who had?

Her next question shocked him and left him speechless.

"Are you Kira?"

Kagome's POV

The silence was overwhelming and Kagome almost thought she might pass out from the tension she felt. Light's emotionless yet strict stare. The wait for an answer almost confirmed the question. The longer the wait, the higher the possibility that it was true. She didn't want to believe it. She didn't want to believe that Light was the most dangerous murderer in the world.

She wasn't afraid of him. She wasn't afraid that he would kill her, even if she had heard that he clearly had that intention. Or rather, he would let Justin do it. Right now, she only wanted the truth and if he was in fact Kira, she wanted to know why and how she could make him return to his senses.

Because she refused to believe that the Light that had saved her life not only once but _twice, _was the same person that had killed so many, whether they were criminals or not. Maybe the shinigami had possessed him?

"I still want to know why you can see them." Light finally said.

He avoided the question and it worried her. What was she supposed to believe?

Then she thought about how she was going to answer him. She wasn't completely sure why she could see the death gods. She'd seen Justin on the other side of the well, but things were different there. She couldn't really tell him about the demons she fought almost daily there, five hundred years back in time.

But death gods were supernatural too, weren't they? She couldn't tell him about the well, but maybe if she only told him another version of the truth...

"I don't know why", she said slowly, "but I can see ghosts and demons. It just is that way, and I can't explain it. But I've gotten used to it."

She couldn't meet his eyes. She just felt his stare. Did he believe her?

Trembling, she took a small step closer to him. He noticed and frowned. She didn't even know what she was doing, only that she wanted to be closer to him. It was scaring her, how different he looked. His eyes were dark and cold. It reminded her a bit of the man who called himself L, but even he had radiated some sort of feeling of safety.

"Yagami-kun, I... I can't bring myself to believe that you would actually hurt someone, even less take someone's_ life_." While she was talking, she took small steps to get closer to him. She felt a sting in her heart when Light gave her a judging look. As if he thought she was stupid. "When I talk to you, I get the feeling that you're a really warm-hearted person. And since you've helped me so many times, I feel like... It just _can't _be you. I... ". She hesitated. "I really don't want anything bad to happen to you, Yagami-kun."

She was shocked when Light snorted and attempted to hold back a chuckle. There was a crease between his eyebrows, and the expression reminded Kagome of many of the demons she had fought. She froze and waited breathlessly for him to say something.

Light shook his head, and to further add to her fear, he had a slight grin on his lips. "Your words are meaningless. They're all just what you _think _of me. The funny thing is, Higurashi, you don't even _know me._ See how easy it is for humans to believe another person is something, just because of a few actions?" He looked her straight in the eyes. "Well, guess what – people aren't always what they seem to be. Just like how our legal system strays from what they are assigned to do – punish the criminals."  
Kagome didn't say anything. She couldn't look away from his eyes, even if she wanted to. She was completely paralyzed.

"That's how our world has turned into what it is today; a rotten mess. There are innocent people being tormented and murdered and left to die in darkness, all by themselves without anyone ever finding out – because of what our society looks like today. Does that seem like justice to you?" he asked her with a harshness in his voice.

She was silent until she realized he was expecting her to answer. She finally broke the gaze and looked down. "No, but..."

He interrupted her. "Exactly! Someone needs to create the justice where there is none. Namely Kira!"

Kagome shook her head ruefully. "I don't understand-"

The last trace of the Light Kagome could recognize vanished from his face and voice when he said; "_I _am Kira."

Kagome had always believed snow was quiet when it fell. But even despite the sounds of cars speeding in the background, the life of the city going on somewhere in the distance – Kagome could hear when the snowflakes fell past her ears and melted in her face. There were warm tears in her eyes, even if she couldn't feel them yet.

"No-"

She spoke quietly. Her voice was completely drowned out by Light when he spoke again.  
"Unfortunately, L is very good at registering the people I meet. Our first meeting could have been a coincidence, but the second time I met you and you talked to me as if we knew each other – you became a hinder to me."

"L", Kagome managed to say, this time slightly louder. "He's the detective. I've already met him."

Light didn't say anything, but she could tell from his face that he found her annoying. The muscles in his face were tense and he looked like he gritted his teeth.

Kagome became overwhelmed and when she finally let out the breath she had held in, her tears were released as well. Suddenly, they were all rolling down her cheeks at once, and almost completely blurred out her vision.

"Please, Yagami-kun, just stop it...", she sobbed.

She surprised him and herself when she took a leap and threw her arms around him. She wanted to hold on to him for much longer, as if it would stop him from ever going back to the crimes he had done. As if holding on to him would protect him from the harm she had tried to convince him to stay away from. Lastly, she just wanted to hold him and feel his warmth, feel that he was human and could be comforted.

But Light wouldn't let her. It took only a brief moment, only a few seconds, until he broke free from her grip and made her lose her balance. She hit the ground and fell into a half-sitting, half-lying position. She looked at him with fear in her eyes. The person that was looking back at her was not Light. The dark eyes were those of a murderer. She saw Kira.

When he walked away, she couldn't bring herself to call his name.

Ryuk's POV

It was easier to find Justin every time he searched. Ryuk spotted him sitting at a rooftop like he used to, gazing out over the snowy Tokyo. He wondered why he seemed to like doing that, if it had something to do with admiring the view – something many humans seemed to be fond of. But it was more believable if it was just a place for him to sit and observe the humans.

He flew lower and lower, letting his wings pass in a half-circle before he finally landed next to the golden shinigami.

He noticed instantly he wasn't welcome.

"Ryuk, what do you want to ask me this time?" Justin muttered without looking at him.

Ryuk didn't mind the cold tone or clear signs of rejection, but took another step closer and squatted next to him.

"Just wondering why you take so long time to finish your business."

"I've already told you".

"I know. I was wondering to myself."  
Justin rolled his diamond eyes so that they glimmered in the daylight.

"Aren't you afraid someone is going to kill you?" Ryuk asked.

Justin snorted. "Don't be foolish, Ryuk. You know there's only one way to kill a shinigami, and that is to make them fall in love with a human and then let them give their own life to save that human. And as you can probably guess...", he turned to look at him. "... That's impossible for me."  
The both of them laughed.

* * *

It's rather depressing...  
Tell me what you think of this chapter!:D Until next time,ja ne!3


	14. Aid

So I promised myself I'd get this chapter done before New Year's - and I DID!:D Of course,your reviews gave me more inspiration to write :) This chapter got a little longer than I planned,which is a good thing :)

Read,enjoy and don't forget to review!And happy new year!

Disclaimer:Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. Not me.

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**Chapter 14 Aid**

Kagome's POV

She watched as Light's blurry shape disappeared in the distance. Her vision was almost completely blocked by warm tears. She felt herself giving up and put her forhead to the ground. For a while she was just lying still, feeling her body quiver weakly, from cold and from crying. Then the real sobbing began and it got harder to keep her breathing in control.

Was it all over? Was there truly nothing she could do now? Could she only give up? Because that was the last thing she wanted to do, but everything felt so utterly hopeless at the moment...

She closed her eyes.

InuYasha's POV

"InuYasha, wait up!"  
The half demon growled in frustration and slowed down to let his companions catch up with him. Kirara was soon flying beside him, and he could feel the glares of Miroku and Sango.

"There's no need to go so far ahead," Sango said coldly.

"Then how about you speed up so we can reach the temple before it gets dark?" InuYasha snapped.

Miroku sighed in his typical oh-how-childish-you-are manner, and hid his hands in the long sleeves of his robe. "InuYasha, we won't make it before dark. It's winter, and the sun sets earlier. We will have to set camp and-"  
"I know, I know!" he interrupted.

Now it was his own turn to sigh. He knew they were right, and it would be impossible for them to reach the temple within just a day (at their speed at least, maybe some demons could actually do it). But InuYasha felt that there was a clock ticking, and not knowing how much time they had made him nervous.

He looked up to see that the sky was already taking a blue color, the same shade it used to have before it turned black. They had maybe a little more than an hour before they had to stop. He ignored his friend's complaints and dashed ahead once again.

Thanks to his never-ending stock of stubborness and energy, the company reached Mushin's temple just a few hours after sunrise the following day. Of course by that time, the humans in his trail were frozen by the chilly morning wind, which wasn't the least softened by their travelling speed. When InuYasha finally stopped again, with the temple at close range, his companions all had reddened cheeks and gave him sour looks.

A thin cover of white snow covered the grass surrounding the temple, and the newly risen sun gave the area a somewhat golden glow when the party arrived. Miroku was the first one to notice his mentor's shape sitting on the terrace right outside the sliding doors. His still figure appeared to be meditating, but with Mushin – it was easy to doubt he actually was. InuYasha immediatelly assumed he was asleep, as they got closer to the man.

When Kirara slowed down and got lower to the ground, Miroku slid of her back and walked ahead of InuYasha.

They watched as he approached his old mentor, staying at a range where they were close enough to understand what was going on, but far enough to let Miroku take the lead.

The monk actually lifted his head and turned to look at Miroku over his shoulder when he was just a few steps away, and it became obvious that he hadn't actually been asleep.

_Well, probably dozing off._

Miroku greeted his sensei and nodded towards InuYasha and Sango so that they would approach. He sat down beside him and they looked out across the lake in the temple garden. He had already begun the explanation of their visit when InuYasha stood beside them.

"The truth is, we need some help concerning a death god. We need to know how to defeat it."

The red-nosed monk's eyes widened. He looked from Miroku to InuYasha to Sango, who stood a few steps away and looked more anxious than the rest of them.

"Are you insane?" he whispered, his voice a tad raspy.

His eyes flickered between his former student and his companions. They all looked back at him without changing expression, and he realized they were serious. InuYasha hoped that his apparant dread for the subject would make him more unwilling to help. Even more so, he hoped that there was any help to find at all.

Miroku looked down as if trying to avoid meeting Mushin's gaze. "I know it goes against some of what you have taught me, but... We have no choice. Kagome-sama's life is in danger."

"What?" The monk's expression changed at the mention of Kagome. "Tell me everything."  
InuYasha listened impatiently while Miroku told the whole story. When they were finally finished, Mushin nodded slowly, though his face still carried a very troubled expression. This was definitely not something he felt comfortable with.

"Dealing with death gods is a very serious matter... But there hasn't really been a real case where one of them... 'marked' a human, like you describe. I don't know much about it... ", his voice trailed off.

InuYasha felt his heart sink. "Are you sure there's not anything anywhere? There's gotta be something!" His words came out as more aggressive than he had planned, but he didn't care.

Mushin looked at him for a long while, as if he was trying to determine something. He glanced at Miroku, who returned it looking very pleading, and then sighed.

"Yes. I have a scroll or two, but their information is very vague... You can have a look at them, though I doubt they'll be of use..."  
He stood up and motioned for them to follow. When Miroku was on his feet, InuYasha met his eyes and saw that he was just as relieved. If their visit had been for nothing, then they wouldn't know where to continue. InuYasha nodded and they followed the old man inside the temple, with Sango walking a few steps behind them.

They passed through different rooms in the temple, which suddenly felt surprisingly empty, and most of all – quiet.

Finally, they reached a part of the temple at the far end, that InuYasha had never really paid any attention to. It revealed to be a room much smaller than the rest of the temple, and the dark walls that lacked both decorations and windows, gave it a more isolated appearance. The sides were lined with built-in cabinets. Mushin approached one of them and with some effort, managed to push aside the door.

The shelves were brimming with dust-covered scrolls, all of them equally worn out in appearance. It was easy to tell they were all decades- or maybe even centuries old. InuYasha noticed Miroku stiffen next to him.

"I've never actually gotten to read any of these scrolls...", he whispered.

InuYasha had no idea what that could mean – but by the astonishment on his face, he could tell that the information one could find here, was probably very valuable. But the question was, how was Mushing planning to find what they were searching for among thousands of scrolls that all looked exactly the same?

The monk stepped backwards and leaned his head backwards so he could scan all the shelves, as if he could tell which one it was just by laying his eyes on it. Sango and InuYasha exchanged confused glances, but Miroku watched quietly, as if to make sure he didn't miss anything. Finally, Mushin found what he was looking for. He stretched out and moved aside some scrolls, without noticing when some of them fell down on the floor. He took out a large scroll that had apparantly been buried somewhere in the back – judging by the thick layer of dust that covered it.

Mushin blew the dust away and handed it to Miroku. The younger monk looked at it for a while and then nodded to InuYasha.

"I'll read it", he said and left the room.

InuYasha felt another wave of impatience. How long would it take to read that whole damn thing? What if there was nothing to be found? He spun around and looked back at Mushin, who seemed like he didn't actually like to give the scroll away.

"Are you sure there's nothing else?" InuYasha demanded.

Mushin nodded slowly. "Yes... That should be all."

InuYasha sighed huffily and followed Miroku outside.

It was late afternoon, and InuYasha had found a resting spot by the terrace. He was lying on his side, supporting his head in his hand, and gazed out over the lake outside. The water was still – not frozen yet, but the nature around it was covered with a thin layer of snow.

He glanced at the tray that Mushin had placed beside him a while ago. He had eaten it, but felt annoyed because they were not supposed to stay for long. Sango had changed back to her regular kimonon when Miroku had disappeared to read, saying it felt more comfortable if they weren't going to do anything for a while.

InuYasha's ears twitched when he heard approaching steps. He looked to his side waited until he could see the person turning around the corner. It was Miroku, carrying the scroll in his hand. InuYasha sat up.

"Have you read it? Did you find anything?" he asked, ready to get going at once.

Miroku looked around him. Sango, who had been sitting inside the room behind InuYasha, got up to join them.

"I did find some things that are clearly convenient", Miroku said. "Of course, we can't be sure any of it's true, or if it will help, but-"  
"What does it say?" InuYasha interrupted.

The monk opened the scroll and let his companions take a look at the endless amount of text and some small drawings that depicted skeleton-like creatures – probably shinigamis.

"It says that death gods have abilities and qualities that can change very much through the years. It's not impossible that they are easier to kill here than in Kagome-sama's time, since I would guess that they are more similar to demons in our age."

"So, how do we defeat him?" Sango asked.

"It doesn't exactly say 'how'", Miroku sighed. "The text is a bit diffuse in some places, and I don't think the writers knew the real answer either. _However, _there are some paragraphs that refer to each other and seem a bit more confident about the subject. It says something in the likes of; 'it takes a very great amount of power – more than your regular raw strength and intelligence. One needs sacred powers, and co-operation between humans who possess _naohi'."_

"'Naohi'?" InuYasha interrupted, once again. He frowned. "What the hell is that?"  
Miroku blinked. "Don't you remember? I told you about that long ago, back when we met Sango."

The half-demon glared at the demon slayer, who seemed to remember everything very clearly. She sighed.  
"It's a 'pure soul', InuYasha", she said, sounding as if she was lecturing a child.  
InuYasha snorted as a response. He didn't think it was important to remember stuff like that. He turned back to the monk, urging him to continue.

"Yes, well... That's about it. It doesn't say anything more."  
InuYasha crossed his arms and hid them in the sleeves of his haori. "Really, that's it? Great! Let's get going as soon as possible!"  
He saw Sango and Miroku exchange anxious glances. "What?"

"It's just that... InuYasha, this isn't as easy as it sounds", Sango said.

"What do you mean? Of course we'll be able to beat him, if we-"  
"Even if we _do_ have the strength that is necessary... Well, 'naohi' is a very big deal", Miroku explained. Suddenly, he looked very tired.

The half demon looked between the two as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. They'd come this far, and now they were saying that... they wouldn't make it?

_No way in hell. We're getting there, one way or another, and I don't care what it takes!_

"So what? I don't care if we have that... 'naohi', or whatever! You said we need to work together, right? Then let's do that! And sacred powers? We've got that, too!" He nodded towards Miroku. "You're a monk. Maybe not a good one, but your powers are still holy. And Kaede. And Kagome, if we can get her to come with us. That should do _something_, right?"

His companions sighed. He could see on them that they didn't think he quite understood what they wanted to say. Maybe he didn't. But he didn't care. They couldn't give up before they had even tried.

He didn't even get why they were so quick to give up either. They weren't usually like this. And this time, it was about saving Kagome's life. Why were they so weak-minded when they neeeded to be strong? He frowned.

_Come on._

"You're right", Sango finally said, and surprised both InuYasha and Miroku. "We've got to try. There's too much at stake."  
She looked at Miroku. InuYasha got the feeling they were somehow silently communicating by the way they looked at each other, because only seconds later, Miroku gave in as well.

"For Kagome-sama", he said.

Light's POV

Here he was again. Somehow lost on the streets of Tokyo, and not knowing where he was headed. Had he had a plan when he left Kagome in the park, or had he just wanted to get away from her as soon as possible? He took a deep breath and inhaled the humid air. It smelt like rain.

Light realized he was shivering. He looked down at his unusually pale hands, and saw them shaking. Was he cold, or was he afraid? Was he holding back some deep and stubborn emotion that he had been holding back since he let Kira take over his mind?

He knew what he had to do. Kagome knew everything, and he had to kill her. But why was he hesitating?

He shook his head in frustration, to get rid of the confusion that was haunting him. He needed to get back to the head-quarters. Keeping track of L would help him get back to his senses. It had been a while since his last visit.

_Damn it. I think I'm losing it. I can't go on like this, it's too risky..._

He clenched his fists and bit his lip until he could feel the taste of blood. But he didn't stop – he wanted to feel he was in control of himself. No matter what he tried, he couldn't stop shivering. After shaking his head again, letting drops of melted snowflakes emerge from his hair like small crystals, he turned around to steer his way to the headquarters.

His legs were moving stiffly, as if they were too frozen to move. Light stopped unintentionally and felt the panic rise up inside of him. It was getting harder to breathe right.

Why did Kagome have to show up? Why did he have to meet her, and why was she getting involved in his life? After seeing her, everything felt like it was falling apart.

He fell towards the wall on his left side, leaning his entire body-weight towards it. He was panting heavily now. One of his fists freed itself from his pocket and he raised it as if he was about to punch someone. It landed on the wall.

"Damn it!" he yelled.

He hit the bricks over and over, cursing as he did so.

When he regained control, he swallowed and hoped he could swallow that piece of regained humanity as well. It was there, somewhere, annoying him and disturbing him like a buzzing insect.

He felt it withdraw, to be hidden under his cold surface for another while. He took another breath and straightened his back.

He couldn't let Kagome stop him. Not now. Misa had to kill L, and then, he would be on his way to justice again.

Kagome's POV

Kagome's eyes flew open and she was almost blinded by the white lights surrounding her. When her pupils adjusted to the brightness of the room, she realized she was, once again, in a hospital. She breathed out, both of relief and as a sigh, and sank back against the pillow that was holding her up.

How did she get here? What had happened?

She tried to recall if she'd gone by ambulance, or if someone had found her in the park. But she didn't.

"Good. You're awake."

The voice seemed to come out of nowhere and startled her to a stiff sitting position again. Kagome looked to her right and saw someone sitting there. She was almost not surprised to see it was L. It felt like it was always him, whenever she was in this sort of condition.

He sat on a chair next to her bed, feet pulled up as usual, and observed her quietly. She realized that he must have been the one to find her, or at least made sure she was sent to the hospital. The question was how he had found her.

He clicked the button next to her bed that would call for a nurse. He leaned back in his chair, but didn't say anything more. Kagome looked away and was relieved when the nurse came running.

"Oh, good to see that you're awake", she said and approached her. She picked up a thermometer that was lying on the night-stand on her left side and gestured for Kagome to open her mouth, which she did. "You have a very high fever, you know. What were you doing out in the park, all by yourself, in this weather?"

Kagome didn't say anything. She glanced at L, but didn't meet his eyes. The nurse looked at the chart by the foot of her bed, checking her values. She took the thermometer back and noted her temperature.

"Your family will be here soon. You'll need to stay the night, though. Can I get you anything?" She smiled.

"Water", Kagome answered after a moment of silence. She hadn't realized how thirsty she was.

"I'll get it for you", L said and got up.

The nurse smiled at them both and left the room. L followed and came back shortly with a plastic cup filled with water. Kagome accepted the cup and emptied it in just a few seconds. L asked if she wanted more, but she shook her head, and put it on the night-stand. They were silent for a few more seconds, until she felt like she couldn't take it any more.

"Do you know where Light is?"

"On his way to our headquarters, I would guess", L said and brought his thumb to his mouth.

_The Kira investigation. He's on his way there, even though..._

"I met him", she said quietly.

"I know."

She wondered how he could know that, but she didn't ask. Maybe it wasn't such a surprise, either. He seemed to know so much. But if he knew, did he also know what had happened?

"Light-kun is very weak at the moment. He's probably very pressured."

"'Pressured'? How?"

L leaned his head backwards, so he was staring at the ceiling and appeared even more thoughtful. "Many things. Things are not going quite the way he had planned, because of you."

Kagome furrowed her eyebrows and bit her lip. She didn't quite feel responsible for anything. Definitely not for standing in Light's way, when she knew what he was up to. But... It must be because she was feeling sad for him, that she was feeling this way right now. As if she had let him down.

"I don't know why this happened."

She pulled her knees up so that she could lean her forehead against her legs. She felt heavy and tired – and warm, because of the fever.

"Do you think...", she began and lifted her head. She couldn't look directly at L, but hid behind her bangs. "... Do you think that he's Kira?"

The detective seemed a little surprised that she asked him so directly. "There's a long and definite answer that would perfectly summarize my thoughts..."

"Yes or no?" she asked him, trying to keep a steady voice.

"At the moment, I think there's an 89 percent chance that the answer is yes."

The words seemed to linger in the space between them. Kagome took it in. He knew. He just didn't have the proof yet. Or maybe there was something else he needed to find out – there seemed to be a game of cat and mouse between L and Kira anyway. But he knew.

She knew, too.

She sighed sadly. "Thank you for... helping me. Even though I don't know why you do that." Besides making sure she got to the hospital, she wasn't sure what she was thanking him for, either. But she felt like it was needed.

"I'm not exactly doing anything solely to help you. Everything I do, it's to test my own theories."

The girl was surprised at his bluntness, but then again, he was that sort of person. She managed to smile weakly, though she had no reason to. She watched as he stood up, said good-bye and left the room. It was almost safe to say, that this would be the last time she saw him. Because, what reason did she have to see him in the first place?

And now that she knew about Light's intentions and his connection to the death gods – did she even have a reason to see _him_ anymore?

Maybe. Maybe not. She wanted to do something to stop him, but... Did she even have the power to do that?

Justin's POV

Justin was seated on the roof of the hospital, and had taken part of the scene between the detective and his own prey. He grinned. The drama between the humans was nothing of his interest, but he still found it slightly interesting to watch the girl being torn. Especially when the human boy that Ryuk followed around, the wannabe-shinigami, was being torn for the exact same reason. Humans were fragile, but they tried to pretend they could be strong like the death gods. It was disgusting and... well, yes, _slightly_ amusing.

But the reason he had observed the girl in the first place had nothing to do with the silly drama. Justin had sensed the girl's soul growing stronger, and he seen it more clearly now. It might be time to put his plan into action.

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(A/N) Ooh,things are getting closer to the end...  
About that "naohi"-stuff Miroku was talking about,it's all in the tenth book of InuYasha,when they meet Sango :)

Hope you liked the chapter :)


	15. Something's coming

Hello everyone,here's the first chapter for this year!:) And I can feel this story is coming to an end,there will be maybe 18 or 19 chapters - including the epilogue. So enjoy!:)

Disclaimer:Death Note belongs to Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba. InuYasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. Not me.

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**Chapter 15 Something's coming**

Light's POV

Even though Light had rushed to get to the headquarters as soon as possible, he tried and successfully managed to hide any sign of stress. He took a deep breath and put on his calm mask when the doors opened before him.

When he entered the room, he met the surprised glances from the rest of the team. It was as if they barely recognized him. Matsuda was the first one to stand up and greet him.

They stood silently, without moving, as if they were trying to figure out what the other person was up to. Light wondered if L had given the rest of the team any reason to believe something was wrong. He smiled his most casual smile, the one that would be most appropriate for a student his age. Naïve.

His eyes scanned the room and he quickly noticed that L wasn't there. There wasn't even a silver wagon anywhere to be seen, which proved that he probably wasn't anywhere around. Light swallowed, but had to hold back any strong reaction when he was approached by a very enthusiastic Matsuda.

The team gathered in the group of couches so that they could fill him up about their progress, which was, needless to say – not very much. Light nodded and commented and took part of their work and said, trying to sound as encouraging as possible, that they couldn't lose hope, because they just _had _to catch Kira. There was no alternative.

He gathered a pile of work and went over to the desk where he was usually seated. The empty chair on his side, L's chair, almost annoyed him. He breathed out quietly through his nose and got to work.

Approximately three hours after Light's arrival, the doors opened again and awoke them all and brought them back to reality. It proved to be L, entering the room slowly with a hunced back and hands buried deep into the pockets of his jeans. Once inside, he lifted his head only slightly and looked at his co-workers. He eyes stopped when they fell on Light.

"Nice to have you back, Yagami-kun", he said in his usual emotionless voice.

"Same for you, Ryuzaki. Where have you been?" Light asked and turned around in his chair.

L made his way over to their desk, while the rest of the team returned to their work and pretended they weren't interested in their conversation.

"Just out for a walk", he replied and pulled his legs up in the chair.

_For more than three hours?_ , Light thought sarcastically.

L turned his computer on and it was clear that they were back to their normal work-routine. Light stared at the document in front of him but couldn't shake the feeling that L was up to something. He acted differently, almost nonchalant.

_He's hiding something..._

Watari visited them and left a silver wagon stocked with sweets for the detective's benefit. The others were satisfied with coffee (although L had his own cup, it was too drenched in sugar to be classified as such anymore).

"By the way, Yagami-kun."

The detective took out a spoon and stirred the liquid, making the sugar float to the surface. "I met your friend." He lifted the cup and slowly sipped it, as if he wanted Light to be waiting for his next words. "Kagome. I visited her in the hospital."

Light's heart stopped for a second and he could feel drops of sweat form on his forehead. Was it possible to feel hot and cold at the same time?

It was quite obvious that the rest of the team were listening intently. Light could see Aizawa and Ide in the corner of his eye, sitting with their heads bowed down and pretended to be working. But the rest of them; Mogi and of course Matsuda, were glancing towards them. Even more so his father, who had a serious expression that had become quite regular for him lately. It was the face he had when he was concerned for his son.

"She's in the hospital?" Light asked in a low voice. He didn't make any eye contact with the detective, but reached for his own cup of coffee.

"Yes. She was sick and had passed out."

"Really? That's horrible." _Breathe. Don't give him any reason to think something's off. _

"Shouldn't you visit her, Yagami-kun?"  
L wanted a reaction. He was obviously testing him. Light then remembered what Kagome had told him in the park; _she had already met L_. How much had they told each other...?

"We're actually not that close, Ryuzaki...", Light said.

L didn't answer. He spun around in his chair and looked back at his computer screen. Light wondered what he was after.

Light sighed. A couple of minutes passed, filled with tension.

He didn't know how much time had passed when he suddenly felt someone staring at him. It was a familliar, uncomfortable feeling, and he wasn't surprised when he saw Rem standing by the wall beside them. It was clear that she was trying to tell him something, by the way her big golden eyes were fixed upon him. She made a slight, hardly noticable motion with her head towards the wall, and passed through it.

Light looked around in the room to see if anyone else had seen what just had happened, but they all seemed to be too engulfed in their work to notice anything – even L was distracted. He stood up and muttered something about going to the bathroom. No one said anything and he left the room.

He figured that Rem probably meant they would be meeting at the balcony, since there were no cameras there. He just hoped that whatever it was she wanted to tell him, it wouldn't take long enough for L to wonder where he was.

When he opened the door outside, he was held back by a hard, icy wind. He let it die out before he stepped outside and searched for Rem. He heard the sound of wings flapping behind him, and looked up to see that she was flying above him. She landed and stood in front of him, far enough so that it wouldn't be mistaken as a friendly conversation. Rem liked to hold her distance, as long as it wasn't near Misa.

She gave him an icy glare. He sighed, looked around casually and put his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

"What's the matter, Rem?"

"How long are you going to keep this up?", she asked. The impatience in her voice could not be unheard. He simply looked back at her. "When will you make your next move? If you don't act soon, L is going to catch up on you."

Light laughed. "Do you really think I'm going to let that happen?"

_This one is so stupid._

But she was right. He had let things be for too long. He needed to do something.

Rem obviously didn't understand what was going on inside Light's head. She kept up the glare, trying to figure out if he had some hidden motive.

"You will need to keep your deal... If anything happens to Misa..."

"It's alright, Rem. Misa is safe."  
"But she's still a suspect. L may say that she's in the clear, but he will never forget that he had suspiscions..."  
"As I said; nothing's going to happen."  
Rem stepped forward, so that she was close enough to look down at Light. Her giant skeleton-body hovered over him. He kept a straight face and they held a staring-contest.

"Then L needs to die", Rem said darkly.

Sango's POV

Once the sun had begun to sink, it didn't take long until it was completely dark outside. Sango and Shippo sat by the river just outside Kaede's village, and washed some clothes. The demon slayer held one of her own kimono's in her hands, and with a sigh, she gave up trying to get rid of a bloodstain. She put it aside in the pile of washed clothes that waited to be dried. Shippo did his best with the small linen pieces he had gathered. The stream in the river was strong today, and he was very careful not to get too close to the edge.

Sango braced herself before she dipped another into the water, and the ice cold stream touched her skin. She shivered.

Then, she suddenly got the feeling someone was watching her from afar. She gasped and looked up to the fields on the other side of the river. There was nothing there. A strong wind blew through the snow covered high-grass, and also made a few strands of her hair free themselves from her usual ponytail. She pulled the hair out of her eyes, and wondered to herself, how and when she had become this paranoid.

She hadn't told anyone, that she was constantly worried about Kagome. She knew that InuYasha already handled that, though maybe not perfectly. If she expressed her anxiousness as well, it would just add stress to the group, and that was exactly what they didn't need right now.

But on the inside, she was afraid. Kagome had become so important to her, she was like her little sister. The fact that she had been absent a lot lately, and that she knew that she was in constant danger, was driving Sango insane.

Without realizing it, she had let her thoughts drift away and she stared absently at the piece of clothing in her hands. A small voice brought her back to reality.

"Sango, do you think... Do you think Justin will be here soon?"

She looked at the kitsune next to her. He was definitely trying to hide his fear, but it was still showing clearly in his face. She tried to smile reassuringly.

They had returned to Kaede's village because they knew that Justin would search for them there. When he showed up next, they would make their move and make sure he didn't lay a hand on Kagome.

"When he's here, we'll be ready. We'll get through this, for Kagome-chan's sake."

Shippo swallowed and nodded. The attempted brave expression returned and Sango wondered, how it was that he could have the strength to keep it up. He was so young, so small, and had been through as much as the rest of them. But he still managed to keep his spirits up – even if he was afraid every now and then. Maybe it was the fact that he wasn't holding back any weaknesses that made him stronger in the end.

_When Justin is here to fight us, _she thought, _I will be ready. I won't let anything from the other side come and take her away from us._

Creatures from the other side, anything that was related to the undead... It reminded her of Kohaku. Once things dies, they are supposed to stay dead. Even if she knew that, she also knew that if it weren't for the Shikon shard in her little brother's back, he would be dead right now. He didn't belong here either.

Once again, she hadn't been able to keep from thinking about him. She drew a shaky breath and threw another haori aside.

The stains were impossible to get rid of.

Ryuk's POV

It was surprising, even to Ryuk, that Light would escape the investigation team every now and then to seek shelter on the unsupervised balcony. He watched the human pace back and forwards, as if he couldn't make his mind up about something. Then he would stop, gaze in front of him and walk back inside with a determined look on his face.

Ryuk never entered the building. He thought it was best if he avoided the police, especially L – especially since Light thought his mere presence could cause trouble. It was fun to see Light stress, but he didn't like it when it was him that was the victim for his rage.

It would take a fool not to see that something had snapped inside Light. He wasn't usually like this, and even if he had been through rough periods before, this wasn't anything like that. This time, one could wonder if he would ever return to how he used to be. Ryuk wasn't keeping track of what had caused it – it could be Kagome, or L, or the Death Note, or even Misa. It was something, and he guessed it would probably reach a breaking point soon.

Light's mental state reminded him of when they first met. It was shortly after Light had taken a human's life for the first time, and he was so sensitive and breakable.

He watched as Light braced himself for what must be the tenth time that day. Wasn't he worried that L and the others might wonder where he disappeared to?

"I've made up my mind", he said.

Ryuk flinched, surprised when he suddenly spoke. He looked up in interest.

"Huh? About what?"

The student nodded to himself, not looking at the shinigami. He seemed to be going through scenarios in his mind, while thinking out every single possibility like he always did before making an important decision.

"I might need to find Justin again", he muttered. "For the last time."

Ryuk tilted his head in confusion. "What?"

"I want to tell Justin that the game's over. He doesn't have to play anymore, and he doesn't have to put his plans on hold just to tease me or wait for my reaction." He paused, looked out over the city that was lying beneath his feet. Ryuk watched his eyes searching for something, or someone, down there.

"No more waiting. Justin can kill her. Just get it done with."  
Ryuk didn't know what to say for the next few seconds. He knew that the girl certainly was a pain in his neck, and he knew he would want to get rid of her sooner or later... But _now_?

He scratched his head and wondered if he had missed something. The way he had been hesitating about it before – wasn't he anxious about someone connecting her death to him and to Kira? Even if Justin did it, it would still be pretty easy to...

Oh well, she had said she knew about him and had met L. It would be even more risky to let her stay alive. In fact, now Ryuk wondered why he had waited so long.

"But why the sudden change of mind?" he asked. He laid down and supported his head with his elbow. "Justin is going to kill her anyways, whether you ask him to or not."

Light shot him an annoying glance, as if he was wondering why the shinigami was still there.

"What I mean is, this time...", he paused. "This time _I'm encouraging it._"

And Ryuk knew, for once, what was going through the human's mind. It was because he wouldn't be able to do it himself.

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(A/N) Sorry it's a bit short. I hope you liked it,and don't forget to review because that always makes me really happy and encourages me to write faster!:)


	16. Listen to me

With this chapter,this story has now reached 100 pages!I'm so proud,because even though I write so much,this is the longest story I have ever made...I plan to make a lot more though ;)  
I think this is one of the most important chapters in the whole story, so I hope you like it!;)

Disclaimer: Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. InuYasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. Not me.

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**Chapter 16 Listen to me**

Kagome's POV

This feeling was familiar, but there was no way of knowing where she had felt it before or even what was the cause of it. She wasn't able to control herself, she was completely at the mercy of something or someone she didn't know. It was back to the dream state, where she was pathetically helpless and unable to save herself. She was aware of what was happening, like when you are aware of your actions in your dreams, but what way was there to prevent her from moving, when she didn't understand why she was moving in the first place?

It was as if Kagome was trapped inside her own body, looking out with her eyes as windows. She saw herself sitting up in the bed at the hospital, in nighttime, and slowly letting her feet fall to the floor. Mechanically, she moved to the closed door and opened it. The corridor outside her room was empty. There were no nurses, doctors or patients to be seen. Everything was completely silent, resting, as it should during the night.

She turned to the right and proceeded through the corridor, even if she had no idea where it would lead her. She had a faint feeling, like a tickling butterfly in her stomache, that something was calling her, and it was very important that she reached them as soon as possible. And why was it important? She tried to concentrate while she walked through the seemingly deserted hospital. Maybe it was someone she knew that was calling for her. Yes, that must be it. They needed her help, and she had to hurry.

Her feet guided her through the building, up the stairs and through empty halls. She had no idea where she was going, just followed. She was stopped once or twice, when she had to lean against a wall and get through painful cough attacks. The fever wasn't completely gone yet, and she felt that her body was still weak. When she regained her ability to breathe, she gathered herself and proceeded.

She didn't fully realize what was going on until she felt the wind on her face. She gasped, blinked, and looked around herself. With horror, and confusion, she understood that she had ended up on the roof of the hospital. The door to the stairs was open behind her. It would be impossible to stay asleep – if that was what she had been, with the icy winds around her. In just a few seconds, her whole body began to tremble from the cold. She felt how her feet were slowly becoming numb. She did her best to keep the warmth in her upper body by wrapping her arms around herself.

The roof was deserted, which wasn't to much surprise. Kagome's eyes darted from here to there, looking for any sign of life. What had called her here? She slowly backed away, hoping she had just been sleep-walking. But then she looked straightly in front of herself, and there was something there that hadn't been there a few seconds earlier.

It was Justin.

Matsuda's POV

The young policeman yawned and leaned back into the couch. He gazed at his watch and sighed when he realized it was soon midnight. He wondered why it was important for them to work even during the night, when they clearly weren't getting anywhere with their research, even during the day. Shouldn't L provide them with regular working hours during the calm times?

Oh well, he thought. He had signed up for this knowing what it would mean. The Kira investigation meant serious work, and he reminded himself as he straightened up and picked up another document, having regular working hours would slow them down even further. Slowing down was the most stupid thing to do, especially during the times when things were slow. Kira might be inactive at the moment, but they all knew he, or his accomplices, were still out there somewhere.

He reached out for his coffee cup at the table and brought it to his lips, but realized it was empty. He gave out a disappointed sigh and stared sadly at it.

The doors opened and Matsuda looked up just in time to see Watari enter the room.

"Hey, Watari-san! Just in time-"

"I'm sorry, Matsuda-san, but I'm not here to bring you any refreshments this time", the old man said in an apologetic tone and turned his eyes to the opposite side of the room.

The rest of the team looked up to see what was going on. L turned around in his chair. Matsuda could see even from his distance, that there was a serious, well – _even more _serious expression on the detective's face than usual. He knew something was up.

"What's wrong?" L asked.

"It's about Kagome Higurashi", Watari began. Matsuda instantly reacted and scanned the room for Light, but remembered he had left earlier that day. He sensed that something terrible had happened, or was about to happen, and sat straightly in the sofa, as if he was ready to get up and take action at any second. The rest of the team looked about the same. "I've been keeping her under surveillance, like you asked me to. But there's been some trouble with the cameras we installed in her room for about an hour now..."

The team exchanged confused looks. They hadn't known anything about the cameras. Matsuda wondered why L seemed to be so determined that this Kagome had something to do with the case, other than knowing Light.

He saw how Soichiro, who was sitting closest to L at the moment, shot him a long and disappointed glare, which the detective ignored.

He spun around in his chair and quickly typed something on the computer keyboard. The big screens on the walls in front of him flickered and now displayed the pictures from six different cameras. Well, except there was no picture, but just a noise and disturbances. Matsuda stood up along with his co-workers and approached the monitors in shock.

L typed in something new, checking if there was any way to fix the cameras, but without success. He turned to look at Watari.

"Is it the cameras?"

Watari shook his head. "I don't think so. It seems to be some sort of signal that disturbs the pictures, but I can't figure out what it is... There's nothing wrong with the cameras in the rest of the hospital."

L fell silent, while the others mumbled to each other. Matsuda felt too confused to engage in any discussion.  
"Check if-"

L was interrupted by a sudden hum from the cameras. The pictures turned blurry for a brief moment, and then without any forewarning, it returned to normal. The six different views now showed different angles from a hospital room, no doubt Kagome's room. Everything looked completely normal.

Then Matsuda's eyes fell on the bed and he realized that there definitely was something wrong. It was empty. He gasped.

"But, where is she?" he said and pointed.

No one said anything. He looked at the detective, whose eyes were fixed on the screens. He was biting his thumb nail. Matsuda had learnt that when he did this, it usually only meant one thing – he was very troubled.

"We need to find Light as soon as possible", he said darkly.

The team reacted with exclaims and protests. Soichiro was the loudest. He pushed the others aside so that he stood next to L, and leaned forward so that he could look directly at his face.

"What's the meaning of this, Ryuzaki? The girl disappears from the hospital, and you want to look for my son? He's not a suspect anymore! Besides, why do you simply assume he's got something to do with this? Isn't it better if we search for Higurashi first?"

"Calm down, Yagami-san. I just don't think that Higurashi-san has left the hospital... However, I know something must be wrong, and I have my reasons for believing your son is part of it."

Soichiro watched with an open mouth as L got up from his chair and slowly walked to the exit. When he was there, he stopped and turned to see if anyone was coming with him. Matsuda exchanged glances with Aizawa, Mogi and Ide. They all looked nervous, questioning if they should follow the head of the investigation, or their boss. The decision was made for them, when they heard Soichiro let out a frustrated sigh, and he went past them to go after L.

InuYasha's POV

The party couldn't be sure where or even if the shinigami would come to find them. They knew that Justin was mainly interested in Kagome, so what reason would he have to come and meet them on this side of the well? But InuYasha was convinced he would show up. He owed them a fight. He was the type that would return just to see them try and enjoy watching their futile attempts.

Well, InuYasha thought, they were going to surprise him. Because there was no way in hell he was giving up. He grittered his teeth at the mere thought of Justin and his laughing diamond-skull face.

Miroku had suggested that they searched for an area with a sacred ground, if they wanted to channel the sacred powers they needed. InuYasha had no idea what he meant, but he followed the monk's word. They had asked Kaede if she knew any place fitting the description nearby. It wasn't a good idea to let the battle take place by the village's temple, since it would put the villagers in danger. However, she directed them to an abandoned temple not too far from the village, where the sacred powers would still be active. This was where they were at the moment.

The temple itself was empty of scrolls, relics and statues, and it was obvious that no monk, priest or priestess had set foot there for many years. There were traces of _someone _staying there, like a dead fireplace and a cloth rolled out as a mattress – which probably had been placed there by some vagabond or travelling salesman.

Miroku and Kaede were busy building up all their necessary barriers, altars and whatever it was they were doing, preparing for the battle. They needed to strengthen their sacred powers as much as they possibly could. Sango was sitting by the terrace, taking care of all her weapons. InuYasha had told her that her poison bombs and hidden knives probably would have no effect on Justin, to which she had answered with sending him an icy glare. He had been quiet after that. He could understand her, though. It wasn't only the feeling of being prepared – which in her case having all of her weapons ready. It was also having something to busy herself with, so she didn't have to sit and just wait.

InuYasha didn't work like that. He could wait. He wanted to know when he was coming, wanted to see, hear or smell him from a distance. He wanted to see the enemy approach and he wanted to show him that he was _ready_.

He was standing in the middle of the overgrown meadow just outside the temple. The sky was filled with darkened clouds, and the only light nearby was the lanterns that Miroku had lit inside the temple. The half demon stood immobile, tense, listening.

"Come on, Justin...", he mumbled, clenching his fists so that his claws almost penetrated his skin. "Bring it on."

He heard Sango approaching before she was even close to him, but he didn't move or even speak to acknowledge her. She took big steps through the grass that reached her up to the waist. When she stood next to him, he could see that she was still dressed in her villager-kimono.

"Do you sense him at all?" she asked, wrapping her arms around herself to keep some warmth.

"No", he said shortly. They were silent for a few seconds. "But I don't think I'm going to notice him coming here until he's actually here."

The demon slayer raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"He can appear faster than a regular demon. His smell is death, which I can smell all over this place. And even when he flies, he can be completely soundless."  
"Oh." Sango got a worried look on her face. Apparently, she had been relying on him to warn them when he was close, so that she would be prepared.

_Then why isn't she always prepared, like me? Humans..._

"But... I don't think he'll be planning an ambush either way, InuYasha", she said, trying to sound a bit reassuring. "I mean, he doesn't believe we'll be able to hurt him at all, does he? So why should he try?"

Sometimes her naivety annoyed her. She wasn't like Kagome, but still human, and still a girl.

"But don't you think he'll want to hurt us anyways?" he grumbled.

"I don't know. Why hasn't he tried to when we've seen him before?"

He could feel her looking at him, determined. He looked away so that he wouldn't have to see her in the corner of his eye, trying to look brave and strong.

"Do you know if the monk and the old hag is ready anytime soon?" he muttered.

Sango sighed. "I believe _Houshi-sama and Kaede-sama _still need some time. It appears to be a lot they need to prepare."

"So why aren't you helping them?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Another pause of silence. "I... I don't know a lot about that stuff. I think I'll let them handle it so I'm not in their way."

"Yeah, and can you see _me _helping them? Do you think I know more about that stuff than you do?"

"Good point", she said and laughed. She fell silent again when she realized that she was actually laughing, and they fell silent again. This time it was much more awkward. "Don't you think it would be better if we had Kagome-chan with us?" Her question almost came out as a whisper.

"No", InuYasha said strictly.

"But you know she has some pretty strong powers, InuYasha! She has a priestess's powers, and she-"

"_Sango_", InuYasha warned. "It's her he's after! If she's here, he can just go right after her! It's like putting his prey right in front of him!"

The demon slayer looked at him for a long time, which bothered him. That look only meant she was trying to read his mind, or at least that was what it felt like. When he couldn't stand it anymore he turned around and looked her straightly in the eyes, expecting her to look away. She didn't. She looked disappointed.

"I know you wouldn't let her get hurt, InuYasha. And neither would I, or Houshi-sama or Kaede-sama."  
InuYasha snorted and broke the staring contest. "She's too weak to be here anyway. She would only be in my way, and she would slow me down if I have to worry about her getting hurt all the time. Seems like that's the only thing she does."  
He swore he could hear the woman next to him roll her eyes and shake her head. He heard her mumble something like, "why don't you just admit it...".

_Admit what, exactly?_

"Whatever. It's too late now, anyways."

She turned around and headed back to the temple. When she was only a few feet away, InuYasha picked up a new scent. It was carried along with a passing wind, stronger and colder than the others. And there was no doubt about it – the smell of death was so heavy he could practically touch it.

"_Sango_", he said loud enough so that he knew she would hear him. He didn't turn around to see if she had stopped. "Tell Miroku and Kaede he's here."

He could hear the beginning of Sango's confused reply, but he was already on his way further out into the meadow, getting closer to the source of the scent.

He could feel his demon blood pumping – or maybe it was just adrenaline. He was close now, and he wouldn't let Justin get away this time. This time would be the end. He didn't know how long he had been running when he saw something glimmer in the darkness and he sped up.

The grass had begun to thin out the further he got, and when he finally stopped, the terrain was flat and allowed him to see everything around him. And _yes_, there he was. The death god himself.

Justin greeted him with an emotionless grin.

"Hello, InuYasha", he said coldly.

InuYasha immediatelly reached for his sword and pulled it out from the sheath. He pointed it at the death god as a threat.

His enemy chuckled.

"Aren't you going to wait for your friends at least, before you start attacking me?" he asked as simple as if he was talking about the weather.

"I see no point. They can catch up later", InuYasha growled.

"_Oh, InuYasha_." The way he pronounced his name sent a shiver down the half demon's spine. Like he was trying too soothe him, but the softness of his voice didn't go together with the hollowness of it at all. "It's amusing how you actually try. It's flattering, really."  
InuYasha didn't say anything, even though he had over a million things he really wanted to say. For once, he actually wished that his companions were by his side when he faced the enemy.

"But you should know, my sweet little youkai, that all your work is utterly pointless."

Kagome's POV

The winter air could not in any way be compared to the paralyzing fear Kagome felt when her eyes met Justin's. For one brief second, the thought passed through her mind, that everything she saw in this moment could actually be the last thing she saw at all.

This was too sudden. She could see his goal clearly on his face, that he wouldn't be waiting any longer.

"Y... You're here to... t-to...", she stuttered.

Justin laughed loudly, as if her stutter was the most amusing thing he could ever imagine.

"So pathetic", he said when he finally had calmed down. If death gods were able to cry, Kagome imagined he would have tears of laughter in his diamond eyes.

She swallowed and tried to get herself together. Maybe she could try to escape. She turned her head slightly to see if it was possible to get back to the door. The little piece of hope died before it had even begun to grow, when she saw that Justin had somehow managed to close the door behind her. She guessed it was automatically locked, and even if it wasn't – she doubted she could get back to it and open it fast enough in her current condition. She was trapped.

She turned her eyes back to Justin. She felt as if her head was about to explode – she needed to get away from here. Slowly, she moved her foot backwards, trying to create a bigger distance from the death god. He would obviously notice, but he didn't react.

"There's actually someone here who I think would like to see you before I do anything...", he said.

Kagome moved her other foot but stopped instantly when she heard the door open behind her. She spun around, hoping it might be her chance to run. But then her eyes fell on the person who had just walked through the door, and who was now standing in front of her, just a few feet away. She thought she felt her heart stop when she recognized him as Light – staring at her with an alarmingly calm expression.

The feverish feeling and the daziness disappeared and she sobered up when she saw the familliar face. It brought her back to reality, made her remember things that she apparently had forgotten. Light was Kira, he wanted her dead. But Light had saved her life more than once, and she knew – she just _knew_ that he couldn't be the evil character she imagined Kira to be.

"Yagami-kun... What are you doing here?" she whispered.

At first she didn't expect him to say anything – his face was indifferent, as if the situation in front of him was as normal as every other little thing in an everyday life. But then his eyes met her directly, and she felt as if now even her insides were cold.

"It's time to finish this. Time to make sure nothing gets in my way. The new world can't be kept waiting", he said. Kagome couldn't help but think his voice sounded robotic, from the lack of emotion.

"No". She shook her head. "No, I know this isn't you..."

"You don't know anything about me", he said firmly. "Ever since I first saw you, you have been nothing but trouble and complication for me."

"But why are you even doing this?" Kagome cried out. She was on the verge of tears now. She felt slightly frustrated at him. "You don't have to do this! This is wrong! You can't just kill people you think are bad and expect the world to become a better place!"

"The world is already becoming a better place thanks to Kira. Now people see what happens to those who commit crimes, and they won't go that way themselves."

"Because they live in fear!"

Light gave her a dark look. She sniffled. She hoped to see even a small sign of remorse or any sympathic feeling on his face, but all she got was coldness.

"L-look", she began, hearing how pathetic she sounded with her shaking voice. "You're right, I don't know you that well. But I am good at knowing _people, _and I understand what they're like. It's like I can _feel it. _And when I'm with you... I don't feel any of the things that you're telling me you want. It's not you, Yagami-kun. Yagami-kun is strong and cares about people. And I believe in you."

She could hear Justin snort behind her, but she didn't pay him any attention. Now all she could do was focus on saving the one she wanted to, _had to _save.

Light's POV

_Damn you, Light. Why are you listening to her? Why do you even let her speak to you?_

He condemned himself for not doing anything but looking at her. Kagome's crying face had some sort of impact on him that he couldn't control. When he saw her, overwhelmed by sadness, there was a knot in his stomache and a lump in his throat. This wasn't at all like when he saw other girls cry – not Misa, not even his little sister.

So he wasn't able to control that emotional side of him, his "human side", that he thought he needed to throw away to reach his goal. And it was all because of her. But that was alright, she was going to be dead soon anyway, and then... Nothing could stop him. Everything could go back to how it used to be. No distractions.

There it was again. That feeling of emptiness. That feeling of hesitation, like a small and weak, barely audible voice deep inside his mind, asking him "why?".

_Why does she need to die?_

He wasn't going to answer that question, because he had already done it so many times. So why was the question still there, if he had all the answers he needed?

He swallowed and braced himself before he opened his mouth to speak, still determinedly staring back at Kagome while he did so.

"I am Kira, and the god of the new world. In the world we live in now, there is too much trash that fills our lives with pain. And criminality is a big strain on our society. With one single tool, I was granted the chance to make things right in our world... Because, who else was going to do it? This wasn't just an oppurtunity, it was a mission! I _have to_ do it."

"And _you_", he lifted his hand and pointed at Kagome, "are in my way." He looked her straightly in the eyes, even if it took all his strength to keep a straight face when he did so. "You need to disappear."

He held the gaze until he couldn't take it anymore, and he turned away, as casually as possible. He looked up to the sky instead, which was pitch black, as he he continued speaking.

"I admit that I don't know your whole story... But the mere fact that you know anything whatsoever about shinigamis and... 'the other world' makes you very dangerous, which I'm sure you understand. That's why you..."

"Yagami-kun, listen to me!" Kagome cried out, forcing him to be silent. He gave her a dark look. "You can still turn back! Just... stop... Stop what you're doing, before it's too late! You can be weak, if that's what you think humanity makes you. But it's okay to be weak. It's okay, if you are yourself, that makes you strong... And, taking another person's life is never... _never _okay. There's no justice in murder."

Kagome lifted her head and once again, Light fell speechless. Her eyes were filled with tears and this time, she really gave her everything to reach through and make him listen. But he didn't want to listen, there was nothing to hear...

_Stop it. Stop it. Shut up! Don't listen, just make her shut up!_

His heart was beating so hard that he thought it would break his ribcage. He desperately tried to remember what he had been doing, _anything_ to make him remember why he was even here. He thought he could hear Justin chuckle somewhere in the background.

Kagome's POV

Kagome decided that she wanted to let Light know everything that she had hidden from him, from everyone, up until now. Maybe it would sound too unbelieveable, but at least it was the truth, and she thought that if anything could get through to him now – it was the truth.

She took a few steps forward to get closer to him, close enough to see the inner conflict reflect in his eyes. Then she took a deep breath and prepared herself.

"I'll tell you why I know about the death gods, but it's a long story. You might not believe me, and you don't have to, just listen to what I have to say", she began. "You see, I fell..." Then she paused and changed her mind. Those details weren't important right now. What was important was how she got here. "I... I ended up in a place very far from here. It wasn't exactly our world. There are... demons and spirits there, some of them are actually rather similar to the shinigamis. And... Justin found me there. He found me and that was when he 'marked' me. So I've been fleeing... Well, not really fleeing, since I could never be sure where he was or if he was even after me. It's been very hectic since that moment. I can't even really explain to you why he's after me, because I'm not sure myself. I think people have explained it to me before, but I never understood it. Likewise, I can't explain to you why I can see shinigamis either, because like I said, I don't understand. But the heart attack... I wasn't in this world when that happened. I was in the place I told you about earlier, and thanks to a friend, with... powers similar to a death god, I came back. I don't know if it would have worked in the first place, since that place is kind of... outside of this time. Like the death god's realm, if I understand that correctly."

She paused, and gathered her breath. In her own ears, she was just rambling and not making any sense.

"Well, I knew more from the start. Not only because what has happened since we met. But I guess that makes me dangerous. But it doesn't really have anything to do with you."

She looked back at Light, expecting him to look calm. But he didn't. He wasn't meeting her eyes – in fact, he wasn't looking at anything, but only focusing his gaze on the ground. She realized that he was shivering, not with cold, but because he was crying.

It took a while before she noticed it, but there was actually tears in his eyes.

"No, Yagami-kun..."  
Before she could stop and think it through, she ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him, holding on to him as tight as she could. Now she didn't even care about her own tears anymore, so they rolled down her cheeks, one by one. All she could think of was calming Light down.

"It'll be okay...", she whispered, but she didn't know to whom she spoke. Maybe she meant both of them.

She was surprised when she felt Light put his arms around her. He was hesitating and careful, as if he didn't know what he was doing, as if he wanted to see how she would react. She was still crying, but she felt safe now.

_Everything will be alright..._

For this short moment, the two humans had forgotten that the shinigami was right behind them, waiting.

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(A/N) I love the cliffhangers.I really do...

The InuYasha/Sango scene is my favorite in this chapter,because it was easy to write.I also really like writing InuYasha/Sango friendship,because I think they have a lot of understanding for each other.

Please review and tell me what you thought of the chapter ~ 3


	17. Distraction

I apologize for the long wait for such a short chapter - but the thing is I just moved into a new house,and I had to wait a few days until we installed my computer T.T Meanwhile,I've had more homeworks and tests and essays in school than usual. These past weeks have been kinda hectic for me,and there was not much I could to about it.  
Here it is,anyway,and I'm excited because now we're very close to the end!:D

Disclaimer:InuYasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata.

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**Chapter 17 Distraction**

Light's POV

_If you can allow yourself to be human – never holding back if you feel the emotions teasing you at the back of your mind, but letting them free – and if you can just allow yourself to be whoever you were meant to be... It's never that easy. But why can't it be?What does 'being human' even mean? Is it simply feeling something, or is it acting upon those feelings? Isn't that what all living creatures do?_

_But I know one thing now. To let yourself be weak, even if you are strong, isn't wrong. Weakness doesn't last forever. Nothing does. _

_It's alright to doubt what you always have believed in, and what has always defined you. Time does that to us – changes. It's uncontrolable. But instead of letting it defeat you... You need to stand up again and act on those feelings you have. Do what your heart tells you to._

InuYasha's POV

The half demon let out a loud scream as he was thrown back to the ground yet another time. Just like before, he hadn't even had the chance to register the shinigami defending himself, before he found that he was forced to back away. Was it that he could predict his moves, or could he really be so impossibly fast?

He brushed away the blood that was coming out of his lip and braced himself for another attack. He saw Miroku doing the same in the corner of his eye.

Neither of them had the time to even lift their weapons before a shockwave made them fly several feet back. InuYasha hit his head on the frozen ground and grunted. He was already getting back on his feet again, reaching for Tessaiga that had somehow managed to fall out of his hands. He let out an exhausted breath, but ignored how worn out he sounded. As if his lungs were desperate for air, even if he felt as if he already had plenty. He turned his gaze forward, and saw Justin's glimmering, and now blurry, shape in front of him. He saw Sango, sitting on Kirara, prepare for another attack. She threw Hiraikotsu towards him, but as before, he dodged it without any trouble.

InuYasha scanned the area for nearby talismans, the ones that Miroku and Kaede had placed out before the battle began. He could spot some of them, but he knew they probably didn't work. Because if they did, how come they could barely even touch their enemy?

"Kaede-sama! The scroll!" Miroku yelled.

InuYasha saw how the monk ran towards the priestess, raising his staff and signing something with his other hand. Kaede held a scroll in her hands, and InuYasha could hear hear mumbling something. He focused on Justin, hoping to see any sign of doubt or pain in his face. The shinigami looked towards Miroku and Kaede, as if he was curious to what they were up to. He dodged another blow from Sango, without even paying her any attention. InuYasha saw his chance to attack again, while the priestess and the monk prepared their scroll-attack.

He leaped towards the shinigami, raised his sword and gathered the energy for an attack. This time, he noticed how Justin was not completely prepared. But if it was because of his own attack, or because he had been focusing on something else, he did not know.

Kaede threw the scroll towards Miroku, who caught it while running. He stopped a few feet from Justin, staring at his floating figure, while finishing the chanting. Justin noticed, and raised his arms as if preparing another shockwave. But this time, InuYasha was ready to attack – making him avoid the blow instead.

InuYasha landed on the ground again, just in time see how the characters on the scroll Miroku was holding, were now glowing and lifting from the paper. They melted together into a ball of light, slowly turning into a beam – rushing towards Justin like a lightning bolt. InuYasha quickly jumped out of the way, but so did Justin.

When the light died out, the party saw the shingami spread his black wings more carefully than he used to. He stared examined them, as if he was looking for any sign of damage. It wasn't easy to spot from the distance, but InuYasha was sure that the attack had affected him. The problem was, they couldn't use it again.

He saw the troubled look on Miroku's and Kaede's faces as well.

The shinigami looked down on the humans with a judging look, as if he was trying to hide the moment of weakness he had just gone through.

"You are getting nowhere with this...", he said darkly.

"Oh, but I think we are", InuYasha countered.

A triumphant grin spread on Justin's face, and InuYasha sensed something was off.

"You are forgetting one very important detail, InuYasha", he chuckled.

The half demon clutched his sword, ready to attack. He didn't like the feeling that his enemy had some move up his sleeve, that he would never suspect. But he was never going to let Justin get the upper hand ever again.

"You've forgotten that... The shinigami realm works in a different time than yours."

InuYasha froze when he remembered what Myoga had told him. _"There's no real boundary. Which means he can travel to Kagome-sama's time anytime he wants." _And it also meant... That he could be where Kagome was, at this very moment. All this time they had been focusing on killing Justin when he was right in front of them, but it never occurred to them that he could go after Kagome while they were fighting him.

"Shit", he breathed.

Miroku and Sango turned to look at him, apparantly realizing the same thing.

"Kagome will be dead soon", Justin said. He sounded somewhat triumphant, but hew was mostly trying to provoke them.

While InuYasha's heart began to race uncontrollably, he knew with rising anger that Justin expected him to attack with pure rage, thus losing even more time. But he wasn't going to do that. His eyes met Miroku's for one instant, and he knew that the monk understood what he was planning. He nodded.

InuYasha turned his back to Justin and ran across the fields, without looking back even a single time. And he was running, no, flying, faster than he ever had before.

The only things he could hear while running was the whooshing wind, but he could also make out the sounds of a battle continuing behind him.

Light's POV

They didn't know how many minutes had passed, but they were still holding on to each other, as if they were afraid that the world would suddenly move and drastically change if they let go. Light buried his face in Kagome's hair. He wanted to block everything out, he didn't want to need to see anything that could remind him of reality. Of what he had done and what he still felt he needed to do.

He could hear Kagome whisper comforting words in his ear.

"Everything will be alright... I promise you..."

He wanted to believe her. He really did. But he couldn't. Everything told him that it had gone too far, and he did know for sure, that there was no turning back now. After everything that he had done as Kira, now that he was this far into the game, there was absolutely no way that he could pull out. If he stopped now, they would catch him and his life would be over.

Light knew that Kagome thought that he would never want to start killing again. She thought that the "Kira" inside of him was dead. But she was wrong. He did not know himself what had made him break down and cry in front of her – perhaps he was just reminded of the emotions that he still had somewhere deep inside, and she made them come back to the surface. But he was still himself, and he still had the will to complete his mission. It was his duty to the world. But there was no use in telling her that. She wouldn't understand.

"Everything will be okay...", Kagome whispered again.

Her voice, so full of relief, made his heart ache. Why did she have to be so naive? He frowned and sighed quietly. Then he heard the faint sound of flapping wings in the background, and he opened his eyes in surprise. He remembered that Justin was still there, watching them. Light let go of Kagome and distanced himself from her, as if he suddenly remembered their situation. Kagome looked a bit surprised at first, but then Justin started to chuckle, and Light could see how she froze. She slowly turned around to face him.

"It's funny how you talk with each other", the shinigami said. "You almost make it sound as if you believe she's going to survive this."

Light's heart began to race. He knew what Justin was planning. He could see it from the content look on his face and he understood exactly what was about to happen. When Justin reached for the pouch on his hip – he watched in slow motion. Was he going to let him kill her? Or should he stop him? No, Kagome had to die. But-

Kagome reacted only a few seconds later. She gasped loudly.  
"No!" she cried, and before Light had the time to react, she had left his side.

He flinched and regained the ability to act. He saw the girl run up towards the shinigami and realized that she was trying to stop him from writing her name in the notebook.  
"Kagome!"

She wasn't going to listen to him. Shocked, he watched as Justin put his pencil to the paper and smiled because he knew that she wasn't going to make it.

Justin slowly floated backwards, as if teasing her into believing he was avoiding her – when the truth was that she would never be able to touch him. But Kagome's eyes were only focusing on reaching the notebook – getting it out of his hands, distracting him, _anything. _She reached the end of the roof, but Justin was almost in her reach. He gained height, increasing the distance between them.

She stepped up onto the ledge and stretched her arms. Light widened his eyes. Kagome was waving her arms without being the least careful of where she was standing. Justin flapped his wigns, flew in a half circle so that he was now positioned behind Kagome, and blocking her from Light's view. Light suspected what was about to happen, and it made him panic. He quickly left the spot where he had been standing, running faster than he ever had. Again, he was seeing the events in slow motion.

He saw how Justin flapped his wings one final time, and when he could finally see Kagome again, she was swaying on the ledge. Justin had nudged her, making her lose her balance. Light ran and ran, but it felt as if he never got any closer.

Kagome tried to regain her footing, but that move was one step too much. Light cursed himself for not being faster. He needed to reach her now, now, _now. _In seconds, Kagome was out of his view and he could feel his heart sink.

_No, no, no._

While he was focusing his eyes on the spot where Kagome had been just seconds ago, he could also notice Justin's shape, still holding a pen in his hand, laughing all the while.

InuYasha's POV

The same second InuYasha landed on the bottom of the well, he was already on his way up and running out of the shed. Once he came outside, he spent mere seconds focusing on finding Kagome's smell – which was difficult, since her home was right next to him. Also, the modern world was filled with strange smells and distractions that confused his senses. He panicked.

"InuYasha?"

He spun around and his eyes landed on a little kid standing a few metres away, looking surprised. He recognized him as Kagome's younger brother.

"Where's Kagome?" he yelled.

Souta's eyes widened at the half demon's aggressive behaviour.

"Um... Sh-she's in the hospital, but-"

"In what direction is that?"

The kid lifted his finger and pointed. "It's not that far. It's the big white building, you can't mi-"

InuYasha didn't stay long enough to hear the end of that sentence. Little did the brother know, that his sister might be dead any minute now.

The thought made InuYasha speed up even more, if possible. He didn't care about the people that could see him when he was racing inhumanly fast through the streets. He didn't stop a single time. His eyes were desperately searching for a big, white building, but they all looked the same to him.

But then he noticed a building bigger than any other. It had a big sign with a symbol just like the one on the medic-kit Kagome used to bring with her. He leaped, convincing himself that it was not too late.

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I would be very happy if you gave me reviews!:3


	18. Safe and sound

And voilà!Here's the last chapter (before the epilogue!) So this isn't quite good-bye,yet,but I'd like to thank you even now for all your kind reviews,it makes me so happy that you liked my story so much.I'm very proud of myself because this is the longest story that I have ever written,and I feel encouraged to keep writing now :)  
Please enjoy this chapter,and thank you once again for staying with me!

Disclaimer:Death Note belongs to Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba. InuYasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. Not me.

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**Chapter 18 Safe and sound**

Kagome's POV

It was a miracle.

She thought it was all over, but before she had even understood for real that she was falling, she had managed to get a hold of something. But the ledge was slippery, and her fingers were cold. She knew she wouldn't be able to hold on for long, and her panic started to rise again. Moving her fingers to grab onto the ledge again was no idea. Right now, she was basically holding on with only her finger-tips.

She could hear someone running above her, and she remembered Light. She wanted to scream for him, but something held back. Her fear was paralyzing her. But he was coming closer, maybe he would reach her in time –

In the same second she regained only a bit of hope, she could feel how she was losing her grip, and she was falling once again.

And then, she heard someone scream her name.

Justin's POV

The girl was falling. But she wasn't dead yet.

Justin laughed to himself as he wrote the last letters of Kagome's name. He wasn't going to let her go.

Miroku's POV

Keeping up with the battle had been hard enough with InuYasha there, but with him gone, it was almost impossible to keep track of Justin. There was only Miroku and Sango who could keep him in line, while Kaede kept herself distanced, trying her best with different talismans and chants. Nothing was affecting him, and Miroku began to lose hope. But they couldn't give up.

_I don't know what's going to happen... InuYasha is out to save Kagome-sama, but is it even possible? Is there a way to prevent a death god from killing? And even if he succeeds, what's going to stop him from trying again, if we can't kill him? There's two of them at the moment, and we don't know how to dispose of either one..._

The monk ignored his body's cry for rest, and pulled himself back up to his feet. He tasted blood inside his mouth and spat on the ground. He couldn't see Justin or Sango, and it made him worry. Where had they gone? They had been in front of him seconds before he fell...

He heard the sound of a cat's growl, and spun around just in time to see Kirara leap into the air out of nowhere, and attacking Justin who had been just a few feet behind him. Things had been very quiet for just a short while, which had left Miroku confused, but now the battle was continuing. It didn't take long until his eyes fell on Sango.

She had her eyes focused on Justin, and proving the great strength she had, threw her weapon towards him. The boomerang looked like it was about to hit, but Justin avoided it. When it returned to the demon huntress, Miroku noticed how exhausted she looked. She slumped a bit when she caught it, but quickly straightened her back and looked for her animal companion. Kirara flew behind her, letting her jump up on her back, to prepare for another attack.

Miroku wondered to himself how she could keep this up. She attacked again and again, but she would never even scratch Justin. Why wasn't she losing hope? He was filled with more respect for her, but at the same time he blamed her for being naive. If she kept this up, she was going to collapse, and then she would be of no use to Kagome, which he guessed was the reason she tried to remain going.

He opened his mouth to yell something – he didn't know what, when he was pushed down to the ground once again by a shock-wave caused by Justin's wings. He fell with his face down to the earth, scraping his hands. Grunting, he pushed himself up on all fours and blinked the dirt out of his eyes. It was when he looked down on his hands, when he remembered his strongest weapon. The wind tunnel. He stared at his right hand for what felt like several minutes, wondering if it was even possible to use it on Justin. He was a death god, after all... There was a risk that it would lead to consequences for himself, but maybe he should take that risk, seeing as there might not be any other possibilities...

He slowly stood up, feeling his pulse increase. He focused his eyes on Justin, who was currently up in the air, looking down at Sango. Sango leaned towards Kirara, trying to catch her breath. Even she must realize now that it was useless to keep trying, if all that happened was that she lost her own strength.

Miroku made up his mind. There was no other way to finish this. He didn't know what would happen – he didn't even know if the death of this Justin would kill the Justin in Kagome's time as well, but it was worth a try. He didn't care if he would hurt himself in the progress. He unwrapped the beads that sealed the curse, and mentally prepared himself. He stared at his closed fist, counting the seconds and waiting for the right time to release it. Seeing Justin sinking just a few feet closer to the ground, he saw his opportunity.

He opened his hand and closed his eyes to the unbelievable power of wind that was unleashed. It was hard to keep his eyes open, but he managed to get a glimpse of a surprised Justin.

But then he saw something that was wrong – Justin wasn't pulled in closer by the wind. How could that be possible? Why...

Then Justin flapped his wings and flew down to the ground. His movements were sudden, and Miroku couldn't keep track of him through the whirl of dirt that he was sucking in. He tried to move his hand so that it was directed at the death god. He could barely make out a glimmering shape in the distance, telling him where he was. The death god came closer, and it looked like he was carrying something...

His heart sank when he saw that he was dragging Sango behind him, and as they came closer to the wind tunnel's reach, she was pulled towards him. It was almost too late when Miroku finally was able to close the tunnel. He looked up just in time to see Sango fly through the air, and landed on him – pushing him down to the ground.

They panted heavily, taking in what had just happened. Miroku had never been that scared in his whole life – he had been mere seconds from absorbing the person that meant the most to him. Sango slowly pulled away from the monk, kneeling down beside him.

He looked at her, ashamed and scared. Some part of him expected her to look at him with disappointment or anger – but he could only see relief.

"Thank god...", she whispered.

He didn't know why she said that, and he didn't ask. She threw her arms around his neck, and he held her close, never wanting to let go.

"I'm so sorry...", he mumbled, but was interrupted when he felt her shake her head next to his.

Miroku wondered what was going to happen next. Was Justin going to finish them? He looked directly in front of him, where the death god was floating in the air, watching them. None of them moved for a long while.

Miroku was shocked, when suddenly a white ray of light pierced the air and hit Justin, engulfing him in a big cloud of smoke. The smoke spread across the field like fog, and soon the light died out. It had happened fast, like a lightning flash.

When Sango pulled away from Miroku, everything was still and quiet. For a long while, they sat beside each other and watched the spot where they had last seen their enemy. Now there was only a spot of burnt grass.

Miroku heard someone approach them from behind – it was Kaede. The old priestess stood long and watched, just as shocked as he felt. Then, she slowly walked up to the spot where the light had landed. Miroku wanted to tell her to stop, that it might be dangerous, but he was unable to. He wanted to know what the cause of the light was, as well, but he felt completely immobilized.

Something had defeated Justin as easy as if he was a normal demon – no, as if he was an animal. After the long and effortless battle that they had been through, that ended in just a few seconds.

Miroku and Sango watched as Kaede looked at the ground, picked something up, and walked back to them. She carried something in her hand.

When she was standing in front of them, they could see that she was holding an arrow.

"It has been infused with sacred power", she said.

Sango stood up and took a closer look at the arrow, intrigued by the small object.

"But who could have done that...?"

Miroku had a hunch from the moment he saw it, but he needed to be sure. Slowly, without the others noticing, he looked over his shoulder, and saw what he had been expecting.

Behind the temple, there was a forest. And in between the trees, Miroku could see a blue-white glow dying out as the source of it moved further away. Somewhere, he could see the shape of a person. A woman with long, black hair, tied into a pony-tail.

Justin's POV

Suddenly, something went wrong.

Justin didn't understand why, but his fingers wouldn't move. He was unable to hold the pencil, and it fell to the ground. He felt paralyzed. But why? This couldn't be!

Slowly, he felt himself losing strength, a sensation he had never experienced before...

Panicking, he stared down at the notebook in his hands. He was only a few lines away from finishing writing the name that would lengthen his life-span.

InuYasha's POV

Kagome was nearby. InuYasha thought he could smell her – he had almost arrived at the hospital, but the strange scents around him were still confusing his senses. Where was she? He was jumping between the roof-tops without paying the least attention to the people on the ground who might notice him.

The hospital was too tall for him to reach by jumping, and the distance was wider than between the other buildings. InuYasha stopped at the last roof-top to catch his breath. He didn't know where he could find her in a place so big, but there had to be some way-

He paused when his eyes fell on a silhouette on the roof-top. No, there were _two. _Then he noticed that there was something in the air as well, and thanks to the glowing city lights surrounding the building and from the streets below, InuYasha recognized Justin. He tensed and clenched his fist. That must mean Kagome was there.

He couldn't make out any of the silhouettes very clearly. They were standing close to each other, and appeared to be facing Justin. Something seemed to be going on between them. After gazing at them for a while, he thought he could recognize Kagome's wavy, dark hair. Then the other one, the tall one, must be Light Yagami, the one that she so desperately wanted to save.

Suddenly, he saw how Kagome left Light's side and ran towards Justin. He widened his eyes as he saw how she climbed up to the ledge without thinking of being careful. What would happen next seemed too obvious, and InuYasha moved instantly.

Jumping down to the ground from where he was standing would be unwise, even for a half-demon, especially because the terrain was different than the one he was used to. But he could make it to a street lamp not too far away, and from there he could move on.

When he landed, and ran towards the hospital, he looked up and saw Kagome hanging by the ledge. She was just seconds of falling to the ground. He felt his heart race, thinking he might not make it...

"Kagome!" he yelled from the top of his lungs.

Kagome lost her grip and fell.

InuYasha leaped and caught her just in time. His jump resulted in both of them crashing on the asphalt, InuYasha holding Kagome close to him. He got up in seconds to get a look on her face, to see if she was seriously hurt.

"Kagome! Are you okay?"

Her eyes were closed. He could feel his heart sink when he saw the blood from her forehead. She must have hit her head...

_Please, let her be alright._

"Kagome! Kagome!"

He picked her up by the shoulders and shook her gently at first, hoping to see a reaction. When he didn't get one, he shook her again and again, panicking more and more for each passing second. He finally stopped, knowing it wouldn't do any good to shake her if she was hurt. But there had to be _some _sign she was alive...

Light's POV

When he saw her falling, Light sprinted and hoped to be there in time. But she was already gone when he finally got up to the ledge, and he leaned over to look down.

He was surprised when he saw the shape of two people down below. One of them had long, silver hair and was dressed in a traditional red haori. He was holding someone in his arms, and when he moved, he could see that the person he was holding was Kagome. She appeared to be unconcious, but it was hard to tell if she was hurt or not. She might not even be alive.

He watched as the unknown person shook Kagome over and over, cursing him for not knowing any better. Didn't he realize that he was hurting her by shaking her so violently? He heard him shout her name.

He froze. That meant that he didn't get any contact from her. Was she dead?

_No. She can't be dead! She can't be, she-_

Light couldn't keep track of his own thoughts anymore. It was as if they were rushing in a chaotic traffic, pulsing as aggressive as his blood was racing at the moment. He was filled with adrenaline. He couldn't stand still for another second and backed away from the ledge. Kagome was down there. She might be dead. It could be his own fault.

All his thoughts and plans that involved Kagome battled against each other. He didn't know what part of himself he should believe anymore. He didn't even know if he could trust himself at all... After what Kagome had made him remember, all those feelings that had returned...

He grunted, panted, moaned as he tried to still his inner conflict. He was tearing at his hair and paced back and forth.

"_But I'm... I'm Kira!_" he screamed at the top of his lungs, aiming the words at the night sky. He had no idea why he did it, it was like he expected someone or something to slow down and wait for him to get back to his senses.

The door from the stairs burst open and a horde of people ran out on the roof. Light didn't turn around to face them, and he couldn't see who they were, but the way they shouted and ran, he guessed imediatelly they were the police.

He heard someone shout his name, and in a few seconds he was being held back by two men, trying to get contact with him. He couldn't answer any of their questions. He simply stared straight ahead, without really seeing anything. Some of the policemen ran up to the ledge and gazed over it.

"Is she there? Can you see her?" somebody shouted.

"There's someone down there!" another one replied.

"Light-kun, say something, please..."

Light realized that one of the men who held him was Matsuda. In the corner of his eye, he saw that the other one was Aizawa, and he seemed very bothered.

"Yagami-kun."

Shivers went down his spine when he heard L's voice from behind him. He froze for a few seconds but then slumped, as if he lost all will to fight back.

L walked past him and looked down on the ground. He stood still for a minute or two, without saying anything. A few policemen had already headed back to check up on Kagome down below, and now only a group Kira-investigators remained on the roof.

"Is she dead?" Light whispered so quietly that he guessed no one could hear him.

The next person to step in front of him was his father. He lifted his head barely, so that he could see the look on his face. He was disappointed, and sad. Light never expected himself to feel anything for seeing that look on Soichiro's face, but he found himself losing even more hope. He slumped his head again. He didn't want to hear, see or think any more. He just wanted everything to be over.

"Light, my son..."

Soichiro lifted his hand and reached out as if he was thinking of patting his shoulder, but froze and changed his mind. His hand fell back to his side. He looked broken, as if he didn't know how to act, which was a rare thing to see in Soichiro.

For a second it looked like he was about to change something, but the words never came. It didn't matter however, because L took over, and maybe said what Soichiro never got the strength to utter.

"We're arresting you, Yagami-kun."

Light drew a short breath, almost like a gasp, but not quite. He frankly couldn't bring himself to care what happened to him anymore.

"We heard you confess that you are Kira. And based on our earlier suspicions, this is enough to make you a convict."

Kagome's POV

It was only faint at first. Like the alarm clock in the morning, a disturbing sound that pulls you out of unconciousness. You might think it's part of your dream, and you really want to believe it is, but sooner or later it's time to wake up, and you realize that the sound is someone calling for you.

"Kagome?"

She opened her eyes slowly, and was met by the sight of a very worried InuYasha. He was looking down at her with the saddest expression she had ever seen. She could hardly believe it was him.

"Inu... Yasha?"

"Kagome!", he breathed. The relief took over, but he was still anxious. She probably looked weak, and if she did, she wasn't surprised.

She remembered what had happened before she fell, and was overwhelmed by a will to find Light. She widened her eyes, tried to sit up and search for him – but she was too weak to move, and even when she tried, the half-demon wouldn't let her. She protested half-heartedly, but knew that there was no use in fighting back.

"Justin...?" She looked at InuYasha and searched his face for an answer.

He looked up towards the building. "He's dead, I think." His eyes returned to her, as if he couldn't stand keeping her out of his sight. "We were fighting him. On the other side of the well. Then he said that he was here too, and I came here to find you." He paused. "He was distracting us by making us think we could kill him... If he hadn't warned me, then..."

He fell silent, but Kagome understood. She felt cold when she realized how close Justin had been to actually succeeding – if InuYasha had come just a moment later than he did, she would probably be dead by now.

The sound of shouting voices made them flinch and look up to the roof of the hospital. They could see some men walking close to the ledge, and they had probably been watching them from up there. Then Kagome noticed Light, looking down at her – appearing desperate even from the distance.

Then he disappeared from view as two of the policemen grabbed him by the arms and pulled him away. He seemed to be fighting against them, but couldn't make himself free. Kagome felt a sting in her heart. She felt pain for Light. Right now, all she wanted was to get up to him and hold him like she had done before.

Slowly, she stretched her hand and raised it towards the roof, praying that she would reach him.

"_I don't want him to disappear."_

Kikyou's POV

The priestess halted on her trail in the woods. Everything was silent around her, just as it had been before, but something was still different. Something was quiet, that had been stirring before.

She put her white hand towards her chest, but felt no heart-beat. That wasn't strange. She hadn't had a beating heart for a long time now. But something in there had calmed down. Her energy, the little piece of warmth that could keep her moving, which let her keep her sympathy for the people she met. Could it be the small piece of that girl's, Kagome's, soul?

Yes. That must be it.

Upon realizing it, she felt the soft warmth grow even stronger, and it spread through her whole body.

Kikyou couldn't help but smile, even if it was barely noticeable, and it didn't last for long. Kagome was alive, and the shinigami had been defeated.

She glanced at her bow, that was still in her hand, and then hung it over her shoulder. It was time to move on.

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Like I said,there will be an epilogue,so stay tuned for a little while tell me what you thought of this chapter - and this whole story,because that would make me soooo happy!


	19. Epilogue

And here it is!The end,the epilogue,the final chapter!  
I want to thank all of you who are reading this fanfiction,all of you who subscribed,and very much all of who have commented!:) It made me very happy and eager to keep is my first long story,and it feels like a real accomplishment that it's actually has taken a little over a year I think - and here it is,almost 118 pages!:D It's unbelievable!

So please enjoy this final chapter of Cat and Mouse,and thanks again for reading the whole thing :)

Final disclaimer: InuYasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. Not me.

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**Epilogue**

Five years later

It could be expected that at a day like this, there would be many cars and pedestrians on the streets. Even some demostrations were expected, but Kagome hadn't spotted one yet. There were a lot of people outside, though, and the streets of Tokyo did feel more crowded than usual. It was late January, but the cold didn't seem to bother anyone.

Kagome stood by the cross-walk and waited for the traffic lights to turn green. She was wearing a beige winter coat, and had a hand-bag over her shoulder. Her way of dressing had changed over the years, from innocent school girl to the mature young woman she was today. She hadn't even been aware of the change, but her friends and her family pointed it out so often that she figured that they must be right.

It was very difficult to imagine how fast time had passed. Four years ago, they had found Naraku and after the toughest battle they had ever been through, they managed to put his life to an end. The jewel shards were put back together, but the energy had been tampered with so many times they doubted it would ever go back to the way it used to be. Kagome had hold on to it for a while, just to make sure it was emptied of all evil energy – until she could do no more. Then she passed it on to Kaede, who put it back in the temple where InuYasha had once stolen it – and they all hoped it would stay there. Truth was, Kagome hoped it would be destroyed. By the time she gave it away, she was tired of the jewel and finally allowed herself to be angry over what it had done with her life. She had never told anyone that she felt that way – but she figured that it would be unwise to let those feelings free as long as she carried the jewel around her neck. There was a risk it would be affected by her emotions.

Leaving the feudal era for good seemed impossible. No one knew if the well would still be working after everything with Naraku, but nothing seemed to change. They were careful at first. Kagome stayed in the village for a good three months, before she felt that she had to return to her normal life. If she would even be able to have one again. The others were relucant – what if she wouldn't be able to return again? InuYasha didn't want to show it at first, but as Kagome got ready to leave, he finally admitted that he wanted her to stay. It was a difficult moment for them both, and there was so much she wanted to say to the half-demon, but for some reason, she just couldn't. It would be too hard. And somehow, she thought he knew what she wanted to say anyways. She could see it in his eyes. When the two of them had said good-bye at last, Kagome jumped into the well with tears in her eyes. When she climbed up and saw that she was, to her relief, back in her own time, she was tempted to try returning to InuYasha again at once. Just to see if it was possible. But part of her was afraid – that it wouldn't be working, and if it was, that she would stay for good.

So she tried to restore her life. Tried. It was hard, but taking baby-steps, and with great support from her friends and family, she somehow managed. She still needed to retake her studies, and she did her best to keep on with them. When a year had passed she gathered the strength to go back to the well. And it worked.

As of this day, Kagome was still visiting InuYasha and the others on a regular basis. Maybe twice a month, if she had time. InuYasha rarely came to visit her. She didn't know why, but it made her sad. She was worried that she would lose him, Sango, Miroku and Shippou. But on the other hand, after all they had gone through, that would probably never happen.

Today, though, she couldn't bring herself to think about InuYasha and her time on the other side of the well. On a day like this, one could only think about the current world.

Kagome eyed two young men on the other side of the road, wearing white T-shirts with big black letters that said; "Remember Kira".

On this day, five years ago, Kira had been arrested. Today was the memorial day. But no one knew for certain what had happened with the criminal after that announcement from the task force. It was assumed that he had been executed – because what other judgement was fitting for someone like him? But no spokesperson had stated that he had been sentenced to death, and no one had confirmed that he was dead. When media asked, the lead investigators and head-chiefs for the Japanese police only said that "the case had been put to an end". No one needed to be concerned about Kira anymore.

Kagome didn't know what to think about what had happened. That night, after InuYasha had saved her, he took her back to the temple and wouldn't let her return to the hospital. No one would let her go and look for Light. She was crying at first, thinking that he was lonely and that he needed her. But then she remembered L, and the tears stopped coming. Was L going to let Light be executed?

In the end, she had only found out as much as everyone else – what had been said in media. The rest was behind curtains, and even if Kagome had played a big part in the drama – that didn't mean they thought she had the right to know anything.

She felt a shiver pass through her body and shuddered. In the square ahead of her, a big crowd was moving, as if there was something in the center that was very important. Kagome had a hunch of what it could be, and was pulled there by her own curiosity.

It had to be something to do with Kira. Several lines of policemen patrolled the streets, and could be seen here and there in the crowd, to keep people in line and make sure no one did anything suspiscious. The subject was still sensitive, after five years.

As she got closer, she saw the object of the attention.

In the middle of the square, there was a big fountain, which was now surrounded by hundreds of lines with lit candles. Among the burning candles, she could see some pieces of paper, and what looked like personal belongings. Some books, a watch, a picture... She didn't understand what it was at first – but after a while, she realized that it was some sort of memorial for the victims of Kira.

Strange, she thought, that people would hold a memorial for criminals. There weren't many flowers laying among the candles, only a few, so it wasn't as honorable as a normal memorial would be. But it was still _something_. Then again, maybe the candles weren't placed there in the _honor _of the criminals, but rather in the memory of what had happened.

She stood still for a few minutes, and watched as people approached the monument to light another candle, or to stand quietly and watch in front of them. Maybe some were paying their respects.

The crowd was surprisingly silent as well, considering the reason that they had all gathered. Kagome looked around to see any sign of anger or protest, but there was none. She suddenly felt as if she couldn't breathe, that the air surrounding her and the crowd was too heavy and too emotional to inhale. Seeing how people around her remembered Kira, as a criminal, made it impossible to think of anything else but Light. How he had looked at her back then, and how she was still convinced that he had been on the verge of going back to who he used to be before he got mixed up with the shinigamis...

When she couldn't take it anymore, she made her way through the crowd so that she was standing far away from everyone. She took a deep breath and as if she just remembered something, searched through her pockets. When she couldn't find what she was looking for, she rummaged through her bag. In the bottom, there was a white, crumpled envelope with the seal of the Japanese task force.

This was the only thing she had received after everything that had happened. The only sign that she had been involved. It had been sent to her shortly after, five years ago. The message was rather short and very formally written. It asked her to be silent about everything she had heard and to lay low for a while. But then they also, very politely, asked her to visit them at a certain adress so that she could tell them her side of the story. They were very clear that they held no form of suspiscion to her whatsoever, they simply wanted to listen to her. If she wanted to, that was. And though she had been very tempted to do so, to go and talk to them (and find L, if that was possible), to bring some sort of closure to it all – she hadn't done it. After reading the letter, she had closed it again, and put it in her bag. She carried it with her almost everywhere she went, even if it was riskful. But it felt even more risky to leave it behind at home. She was afraid that when she got back, it would be gone.

She held the crumpled papers in her hand and pressed her lips into a thin line. Her eyes were going back and forth over the lines of text – making up a new decision. Finally, she stopped at the adress stated in the end, and then folded the paper. She put it back in her handbag and turned around, heading towards a new destination.

Of course, she didn't know if the adress was still valid, or if there would be anyone there to listen to her. But even if there wasn't, then she would know. Then it would be easier to put everything behind her, and know that the rest of the world had moved on.

She found her way with the help of a GPS on her cellphone, but she got lost once or twice. The roads got more similar to each other, making it difficult to find out where she was going, and this wasn't a neigbourhood that she usually visited. As she looked up and inspected her surroundings every now and then, she thought that it looked too calm for the location of L's headquarter. But maybe that was the point – place it somewhere it doesn't attract much attention.

The map told her that she had reached her location. She looked around her to see if she could identify the building. After rotating three times her eyes fell on a sign by the gate of an enormous building. Of all the houses nearby, this was also the one that seemed to be the most distanced from the outside world – with a high fence and a gigantic garden, making the house look very small from behind the gate. It was impossible to see anything from the windows at this distance. The bronze sign said "Wammy's" and nothing else. But Kagome figured this was most likely the place she was looking for... And if not, then she had at least tried.

She searched for a bell, and a short while later, an old man answered in the speakers by the top of the fence.  
"Yes, what can I help you with?"

"Um... Hello, my name is Kagome Higurashi. I, um, got this letter a few years ago... I know it might be too late, but if... Um...". She didn't know where to finish the sentence, but she didn't have to.

"I see. It's alright, Higurashi-san. We have been expecting you. Please, come in."

The gates opened. Kagome stood startled until she regained herself and slowly, carefully, made her way into the property.

The path leading up to the mansion seemed much longer now that she was actually walking on it. The wide garden around her left her feeling as if she was watched – and reminded her that she didn't belong here. She tried to quicken her pace, to get over to the house as fast as possible.

When she was just a few feet away from the entrance, the doors to the house opened, and she was greeted by a man in his seventies, with white hair, a big moustache. He was wearing a pair of small glasses and was dressed in a perfectly tailored suit. His appearance reminded her of an English butler. He gave her a kind smile as she approached.

"This way, Higurashi-san", he said and motioned for her to follow.

The doors closed behind them. Kagome looked up and was left speechless by the magnificence of the hallway only. It was wide and lit up perfectly by the chandeliers in the ceiling. The walls were decorated with various paintings, portaying beautiful landscapes, that once again reminded her of something from Europe. Along the walls stood Victorian furniture like drawers with lion-paw legs and big armchairs with cushions. This definitely didn't feel like the headquarters of a police force...

Her eyes fell on the old man and she was reminded of why she was there. She held the letter tightly in her hands.

"I was wondering... If you, or anyone, could tell me what really happened that night? At least what happened after I left? I know it's been a while since it happened, so it might not be relevant anymore, but if you would need it, I can share my memories of what happened."

The man smiled apologetically at her. "I'm sorry, but your information is no longer neccessary. And unfortunately, there is very little information we can share with you, during these circumstances."

Kagome tried to hide the disappointment on her face, but knew it was still very obvious. Why had she even come here? She sighed and stared down at the crumpled paper she was holding. It didn't feel as if she had accomplished anything by coming here. She was still thinking about Light-

_Light._

"What happened to Li-. I mean, what happened to Yagami-san?" she burst out. "Is he still alive? He is, right? He must be!"

She saw the surprise on the old man's face and felt a bit stupid for her sudden exclaim. But she needed to know. If he was dead, then...

"Where is he?" she asked quietly.

The man was silent for a moment, as if trying to decide how to express himself. "Light Yagami... was sentenced to death."

Kagome felt as if a stone was inside her body, weighing her down. Was he dead? Why didn't she know this? Why did she feel as if she had let him down? She had wanted to be there with him and let him know that everything was going to be okay, just like she had promised him.

_No, please, don't let this be happening._

"Fortunately for you, Higurashi-san, the execution has not been carried out yet", said a familiar, dark voice.

Kagome felt a shiver down her spine, and slowly, she looked up to a pair of stairs on her right side. At the top of the stairs was a man, dressed in the same baggy jeans and white shirt, his black hair as dirty and messy as she remembered it. The bangs were almost covering his eyes completely, but even from this distance, you could make out the dark holes they appeared to be. Always watching, always forming an opinion about his surroundings.

"L", she whispered to herself.

The detective looked from Kagome to the old man.

"Watari, you can leave us. I want to speak with Higurashi-san."  
The man called Watari bowed and retreated into a room a bit down the hallway. Once he was out of sight, L took a few steps down the stairs, so that there was an appropriate conversation-distance between the two. She was somewhat surprised that someone like him would take such "social rules" into consideration.

"Light isn't... dead yet?" she breathed.

"No. But he will be soon."

"When is 'soon?'"

He was silent for a moment. "It all depends on what will happen."

She got the feeling that it was all she would get out of him. "So... Where is he? Is he alright?"

"Maybe not the way you would expect him to be, after everything that happened. But he is alive." L's eyes drifted away from her, looking at something behind her that probably only he would find interesting. "He talks about you sometimes."

Kagome's heart skipped a beat. "Me? What does he say?"

"Nothing special. Sometimes he mumbles your name and sometimes it's as if he thinks he's actually talking to you. Sometimes it's his father."

Hearing this made it sound as if Light had some sort of mental problem, if he was talking to people who weren't there. Had the events really been that traumatic for him, or was it something that had happened afterwards that caused it?

"I think you can understand that we have put him somewhere far away from the outside world. This is Kira we are talking about."  
_No. It's Light._

Despite that thought, Kagome nodded, but without meeting his eyes. She didn't really want to keep talking to him anymore. Right now she only wanted to leave. Thinking about Light made her feel depressed now. Not knowing what had happened to him at least gave her some hope that he was somewhere safe, that he was back to normal – but of course that was a very naive thought. He was the most dangerous criminal in history, after all.

"Follow me, Higurashi-san. I will take you to him."  
Kagome looked at the detective as if he had just stated that the sky was turning red. She couldn't decide if he was being serious or not, but then again – why would he even make a joke in the first place? The word "joke" probably didn't even exist in his vocabulary.

She hesitated at first, but when L began climbing the stairs again, without checking if she was following, she tore herself out of her moment of shock.

The corridors they passed all appeared the same to her. They didn't stay anywhere long enough for her to really explore them though, so she couldn't be sure if this was true or not. All the doors were closed and made her wonder where they all led. Did they all hide some top-secret material, or were they simply normal rooms with normal furniture for the people who visited the house to use as they pleased? _Did L live here?_

Distracted by the marvelous details in the interior design, she almost walked right into L who had stopped in front of a door, looking no different than all the other doors they had passed. He opened a hatch in the wall which revealed a key set. He pressed a code into it, too fast for her to register what keys he was pressing.

He glanced at her and she was quick to turn her eyes away. She didn't want him to think she was trying to figure out how to break in. She heard how he pressed something else, and a mechanical-like sound echoed from inside the wall. She allowed herself to look again when she heard him hold down the door-handle and opened the door.

He held the door open for her like a gentleman. She entered the room carefully, as if she was afraid that there was some trap waiting for her inside. But there wasn't. The room she was being led into reminded her very much of a hotel-room, with a big, tidy bed, a Victorian couch, a closet, and a big pair of glass doors. The room was completely decorated in Victorian style, which was no surprise in comparison to the rest of the house. But this room was... different from the corridors and the hallway she had seen before. They were... cleaner, somehow. Kagome couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something about the atmosphere or the decoration in the room that made it feel more... lifeless.

She looked out the glass-doors, which showed a small, beautiful garden outside. The small area was lined with high hedges, so she guessed it was firmly separated from the other part of the gardens. The trees and hedges were naked, lacking leaves, but they still managed to make a very good barricade. It was keeping the world outside... Or maybe, keeping something inside.

_Light._

Without asking L anything, she walked up to the glass doors. She saw the shape of a person sitting out there, on a lonely white bench, in the middle of the lawn. She pressed her hands to the glass to get gloser. His hair was longer and his figure slumped a bit more, but there was no doubt about it. It was him.

Her hand moved to the handle, holding it down, but she didn't manage to open the doors. She tried a few more times before realizing it was locked. She looked pleadingly at the detective behind her.

"I know you want to see him", he said in his low voice. He walked up to her side and pressed the keys of a key set Kagome hadn't noticed. "I'll give you a short moment together. But remember this,"

The door opened with a click, but Kagome met L's eyes so that he could finish his sentence. She could hear it in his voice that whatever he wanted to say, it was very important.

"He is different than from the Light Yagami you remember. Much has happened and the years have... changed him. Just remember that."

He stepped away from the door and then he left the room. Kagome hesitated a second before opening the door and running outside.

Her lungs were instantly filled with cold air, and she was reminded of the time when she met him, five years ago. It had been winter – seemingly endless winter. But the snow hadn't showed up until late.

Just a few steps away from the bench, Kagome collapsed on the grass and almost glided down to sit in front of the man. He was staring straightly ahead.

She reached for his bare hands, looked into his eyes and tried to get contact with him.

"Yagami-kun? Yagami-kun, can you hear me? Do you remember me? It's Kagome!"

It became clear very fast that either he couldn't hear her voice, or he just didn't want to listen. His eyes showed no reaction or sign that he knew that she was there. He was just looking straight in front of him. She turned to see, but there was nothing there.

"Yagami-kun? Look at me."

No reaction.

She stretched her back so that her face was almost in level with his. After hesitating, she pulled her glove off of her hand and touched his face. She tried to turn his head so that his eyes met her's. At first he looked the same as when he had gazed at the grass. But a moment later, perhaps a minute or more, she could see herself being reflected in his eyes. He blinked slowly, as if he saw her now for the first time.

"You...", he said with a very dark and hoarse voice. As if he hadn't spoke in several days.

"Yes. It's me. Do you remember?"

Kagome did her best to smile. She could feel some warmth returning to him beneath her hand.

"Higurashi", he said and cleared his throat. "Higurashi Kagome."  
He said her name in such a formal manner. Didn't he remember anything else except for her name? Surely, he must recall what they went through together?

She bit her lip and squeezed his hand. He didn't squeeze back, but just looked at her.

She sighed and sat down on the bench next to him. She wanted to ask him if he remembered, but guessed that it might not be very wise. If there was anything left of him, she hoped it wasn't the memories of when they locked him in here, or why. She hoped that everything that Kira had done with him was gone.

They were silent for a few minutes. Kagome couldn't figure out many things to say to him. Most of all, she was happy that he was alive, but –

She felt her heart sink in her ribcage like a stone.

He won't be alive for much longer. He's awaiting his death sentence.

_Oh my god, _she thought. _Does his family even know if he's still alive? Here I am, sitting next to him, but to his family, he might be dead already..._

The thought made her squeeze his hand a second time, but he still didn't react.

"I know I've already said this once, but...", she said. She took a deep breath before she continued. "I want to thank you, for saving my life. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be alive today. And it wasn't because of...". She shuddered. "...because of _him _that you saved me. You saved me because you are _you, _Yagami-kun. And I want you to remember that, no matter what. Okay?"  
She looked at him for a long time, as if to ensure herself that he had heard her.

Surprisingly, he did react this time. He furrowed his eyebrows as if he couldn't quite understand what she meant.

"Save you... When did I ever...?"

Kagome didn't say anything.

"Higurashi-san."

She was startled to hear him speak so strongly. "Yes?"

He was quiet for a moment, trying to gather the strength to say what he wanted to. "I don't... remember very much at all. Sometimes I get flashbacks." He paused. "Sometimes I feel like I know why I'm here, but it doesn't bother me at all anyway... It doesn't matter to me where I am." Another paus, it lasted longer this time. "What I wanted to say is... I'm sorry."

"'Sorry'?"

"Yeah, I'm..."

His voice died out completely. Several minutes passed and since he didn't look at her, Kagome started to wonder if he had forgotten that she was there.

"Yagami-kun?"

There was no response. Kagome leaned forward so that she could take a look at his face. His eyes didn't meet her's. He had returned to staring at the invisible object in front of him.

Five minutes passed. Ten. Then fifteen. Kagome thought that L or someone else would have come to get her now, and told her that she had had her short moment with him. But no one came, and neither of them moved. They didn't say anything either.

The cold didn't seem to bother Light, but after fourty minutes of silence and immobility, Kagome couldn't feel her toes or fingers anymore. She didn't want to leave. She really didn't. But she couldn't bring herself to ask Light to go inside either – and even if she did, she sensed that he wouldn't listen to her.

She sighed and looked up to the sky. Startled, she felt something wet and very cold on the tip of her nose. She brought her fingertip to her nose to touch the little wet spot, and saw a drop of water. Was it raining? She waited for another drop as proof, but she knew that it wasn't raining.

"Higurashi-san."

Light's voice surprised her again. She turned to look at him. "Yes? What is it, Yagami-kun?" She was eager to hear him speak again. Maybe he would explain what he meant by saying that he was "sorry".

Light had torn his gaze from the spot of air and was now searching the sky for the same thing as Kagome. The source of the wet drops.

"It's snowing."

His sentence was short but imediatelly made Kagome draw after her breath. She didn't know why – probably because she was expecting him to say something else. But he didn't say anything more.

"Yes", was all that she could manage to say.

They sat still, surrounded by snowflakes that seemed to grow bigger and bigger as time passed.

* * *

_The end._


End file.
